


The Chronicles of Bromance

by igonecrazy



Series: The Trials of Love [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst if you're Alec Lightwood, Attempt at Humor, Cute Magnus Bane, Fluff and Humor, Getting Together, Good Parent Asmodeus (Shadowhunter Chronicles), Good Parent Maryse Lightwood, Hospitals, I love Raphael Santiago, Jace and Magnus are just friends, Jealous Alec Lightwood, Kidnapping, M/M, Panic Attacks, Slow Burn, Torture, i promise there's no Jace/Magnus, sorry buddy, you've seen Alec look at Magnus with rose tinted glasses now get ready for Jace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:20:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 36,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23450848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/igonecrazy/pseuds/igonecrazy
Summary: Jace and Magnus form an unlikely friendship.Alec Lightwood hates that he is crushing on his brother's boyfriend, but damn, he wishes he had met the guy first.
Relationships: Clary Fray/Jace Herondale, Clary Fray/Jace Wayland, Magnus Bane & Jace Wayland, Magnus Bane & jace herondale, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: The Trials of Love [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1878352
Comments: 249
Kudos: 432





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Yuru18](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuru18/gifts).



Jace rushed inside the building, his hair already wet from the drizzle outside. Since it was a Sunday morning, the lobby was naturally deserted; he nodded at the receptionist. Poor guy, having to work on a Sunday sure sucked. His eyes fell on an overflowing mailbox, which reminded him, it had been a week since he moved into his new place and he should probably check his mailbox too.

Jace had finally found a nice apartment closer to his work. Moving out of the apartment he shared with his siblings had been tough, but on the plus side, now he can lounge on the couch in his boxers without being told off. Although being away from Alec’s appetizing dinner was a bummer.

He opened his mailbox only to find a few trash advertisements for some shitty cruise ships inside. Oh, look! His sports magazine has arrived. Yeah, he _is_ one of the few who still like to read the hardcopy of the thing.

Jace was admiring his magazine when he noticed movement from the corner of his eye. He turned to notice a guy, almost the same height as him and still grumpy from his sleep, judging by the cute frown on his face, going through his mail. He was wearing a long robe that was left open, and Jace wished Alec was here. The guy had some makeup on, even though his face looked like he needed his morning coffee. Honestly, the guy was hot.

Jace was man enough to admit when he found a guy objectively attractive; Alec said he might be a little gay. But Alec didn’t know about his rendezvous with guys in college. He didn’t want to put himself in any labels though. Also, being commitment-phobic made it futile to think about his labels. It’s not like he is getting into a relationship anytime _ever_.

But an attractive guy, especially one as attractive as this one, Jace can appreciate.

“Hi,” Jace called, startling the guy.

The guy just stared at him with wide eyes, still processing the shock. Jace smirked. But, the guy turned back to his letters without responding. Someone definitely needed their caffeine.

“You’re pretty,” Jace said, his smirk almost verging on a grin.

“Huh?” the guy managed to utter, looking adorably confused.

“Thought you should know,” Jace said, winking at the guy.

The guy just stared at him nonplussed. Jace, deciding to take mercy on the barely functional guy, waved his goodbye at him, getting a small wave in return, and walked away.

He hoped this won’t be the last he will see of Gorgeous.

* * *

Magnus cursed himself for not checking his mailbox last night. He did not want to get out of his bed at eight on a Sunday morning. But since Raphael said he would never babysit Chairman _if he didn’t go down right the fuck now and send him a picture of_ blah blah. Therefore, Magnus was in the elevator in his robe.

Opening his eyes as little as he could, because- why was a bright lobby a selling point of this apartment, again? He managed to get to his mailbox, and holy meow it was full. Who even sends actual mails nowadays? He stared at the huge stack of letters in his hands and thought about how he would sort them to find the one that Raphael wanted. Does Raph not get his own mail? Why is he-

Magnus startled when he heard someone on his side, he didn’t even realize someone else was there with him.

The guy was a blondie in a black leather jacket and black jeans and black shoes. Was he going to murder him? Better not to engage with his potential murderer.

So, okay, did his potential murderer just compliment him? He hadn’t seen that on any of those cliché crime dramas he loves.

Yeah, Magnus knows he is, not to sound vain, attractive. But his potential murderer is not wrong, it’s nice to be told that, especially when you woke up with Raphie screaming at you through the phone.

The guy waved at Magnus, much like when you wave at a dumb kid, and of course, he waved back, much like that dumb kid.

Blondie left in the direction of the elevator, while Magnus stared after him, wondering where his potential murderer is going when he is still standing here, alive. Magnus’ attention returned back to the heavy stack in his hands, again wondering what the fuck is he supposed to do with these, don’t they cause damage to the environment?

Later that morning, when Magnus was no longer sleep deprived and sipping coffee, he wondered if his potential murderer, whom he allegedly _saw_ , had been a dream. No one actually dresses so, for a lack of a better word, black. Do they?


	2. Chapter 2

There was a quaint little coffee shop on his block that Jace had noticed on his run. If his new place came with an amazing café on his block, then he got a sweet deal. He entered the place and the soft aroma of coffee and chocolate made him close his eyes and take a deep breath. Ah, sweet caffeine.

There was a queue, and Jace felt grateful that he was in no rush this morning. He noticed the guy in front of him was wearing a chic purple velvet blazer and those pants probably had to be glued on. The guy then turned to look towards his left, probably looking for an empty table, when Jace realized it was the pretty guy, whom he saw in the lobby the day before. Jace hoped he could get a name this time.

The guy was looking down at his phone as they moved a spot forward in the queue, and Jace thought Pretty should be more aware of his surroundings. He smirked as an idea came to him.

He leaned in close to the guy, slowly getting closer to his ear, and loudly said, “Hi.”

Jace had predicted he would startle the guy, which he did, and probably make him jump a foot or two in the air, which the guy did. What he did _not_ predict was the reflex sucker punch to his gut at startling the guy, making Jace double over in pain.

Jace groaned, “What is wrong with you?”

“You scared me!”

Hmmm, it’s not like that wasn’t his intention.

“Yeah, okay,” Jace was sure he was red by now, “fair.”

“Is everything okay here?” Jace looked up to notice a concerned employee.

“Yeah,” he said with a gruff.

“Are you stalking me?” the pretty guy asked, ignoring the employee.

“What stalker would ever say yes to that?”

“So you are?”

“No!”

“Do you need help, Mr. Bane?” the barista asked again.

The pretty guy turned and smiled at her, “Oh no, sweetheart. I’ve got this.”

She left at a nod from the Bane guy, and what is he, a Batman villain?

“Who are you?” Bane asked.

Now that Jace’s pain had relaxed, and he managed to stand without clutching his stomach, he noticed the guy had a sweet voice, which somehow made him smile. He also noticed the different chains and necklaces the guy was wearing, that were left on display on that glorious chest, thanks to the barely buttoned-up shirt.

“Why are you smiling?” the guy asked again, his cute frown from yesterday morning was back.

“You have a cute voice.”

“I swear by the devil if you don’t tell me who you are, right now, and why you keep following me; I will not be held responsible for your medical bill,” the guy threatened in a low whisper.

That punch was enough for Jace to know the guy packed some serious strength to come through on that promise, and the fact that that was a reflex told him he was probably professionally trained in some form of combat. But really, the velvet jacket with the glued on pants and the cute frown-

“Listen here, Blondie, I know the chief of police, and I will call him on you.”

“Oh, you do,” Jace smirked not believing the guy, “and what is his name?”

“Lucian Graymark.”

“You know Luke?”

“Luke?” the guy stared at him for a moment and then said, “are you a cop? Have you been tailing me? Are you one of those racist cops? It would honestly save your whole department a whole lot of time and resources if you would stop investigating my father!”

“Father? Wait, are you 'Bane' as in Asmodeus Bane?” the guys face said it all, and honestly Jace felt bad for him. “Sorry man, I am really sorry if that’s your experience with white people.” Jace continued in a softer tone, “I didn’t mean to alarm you like that and trust me I’m not tailing you or stalking you. I’m not even a cop,” Jace raised his hands to placate the guy, “I am just a guy who moved into your apartment building recently and found you pretty and wanted to say hi.”

The guy’s glare softened.

“Let me do this again,” he waited for a response but all he got was a frown so he continued, “Hi, I’m Jace, your new neighbor, and I think you’re really pretty.”

The guy narrowed his eyes and said, “You were doing so well till you added the 'pretty'.” He turned around and went to the counter, Jace was only now realizing that they were the only two left in the queue.

Jace went and stood next to the guy as he ordered; though before he could pay, Jace turned to the barista and said, “Add his bill to mine and I’ll have an Americano to go, please.”

He held out his card to the barista, when she didn’t take it, he turned to the pretty guy, “Please let me do this for you?”

Jace brought in his puppy dog eyes, which he knew were strong because they could melt Alec. They held each other's gaze for a while, and Jace had to up his puppy eye level for the guy to finally give in and nod at the barista.

“You really live in my building?” the guy asked, as they waited at the counter for their orders.

“Yup just moved into 6B. Last week.”

“I’m on that floor too!” the guy said excitedly.

“No way!” Jace noticed a frown starting to form on that cute face, so he added, “trust me, I did not know that, and I’m not stalking you.”

“Like you’d tell me if you were.” The guy grumbled. “Are you a cop?”

“No.”

“Like you’d t-“

“I’m in the private security business, Witchlight Securities. You can look it up,” Jace said interrupting the guy.

The barista came back with their orders, Jace thanked her, and the guy smiled at her.

The guy turned and moved to leave when Jace said, “Can I at least get a name?”

The guy stared at him as if judging if he was worthy of the honor and said, “Magnus. Magnus Bane.”

And he walked out with that, probably trying to see if Jace would follow.

 _Magnus_ , he thought, it suited the guy really well.


	3. Chapter 3

Jace pressed the phone between his ear and shoulders, as he freed his hands to pull up his jeans. Alec answered after three rings, and Jace can bet here comes the excuse train.

“We on for tonight?”

_“Umm- Yeah, sorry I can’t make it. Some intern fucked up and now Mom wants me to look into the case.”_

“Mmhmm,” Jace replied, fixing his hair in the mirror.

_“Yeah, I would have, definitely, joined you otherwise.”_

That’s probably the biggest lie Alec ever told, even though he is a lawyer.

“So, did Mom tell you about the lunch this Sunday? She sure told me when she called an hour ago,” Jace waited for that to hit home, before continuing, “still going to stick to the lie, Mr. Lightwood?”

 _“Ugh. Mom!”_ Alec groaned.

Jace laughed, “You can say no, man.”

_“I can, but Izzy is not going too, she has something with this guy Simon.”_

“Who is Simon?”

_“I don’t know much about him, they just met. Anyway, I don’t want to go and now you’re going to make me go.”_

“It’s alright, dude,” Jace said taking pity on the guy, “You owe me another time though.”

_“Ya sure?”_

“Yeah, it’s a weekday; I wasn’t counting on you coming, anyway,” Jace said, making Alec snigger.

_“Yeah, okay. So, enjoy.”_

“You too, see ya.”

Jace looked at himself in the mirror, he had showered and dressed up. He weighed his options between watching a stupid movie alone and going to a bar and possibly hooking up, and of course, the latter won.

* * *

The bar he usually went to with his siblings was thankfully close enough to his place for him to go there to wind down after work. Alec wasn’t much of a drinking man; he would mostly come because Jace or Izzy dragged him along. But Jace hoped he could enjoy alone too. As he approached the bar counter, he realized he needn’t have worried.

He noticed Magnus sitting at the bar nursing a martini. Does this guy ever look like he isn’t ready for the runway? Jace was about to greet him when he noticed the girl next to the guy, who was desperately trying to flirt with him.

“I’ve told you already, I’m not in the mood. Don’t make me rudely tell you off,” Magnus grumbled at the girl.

“Oh come on-“

Jace decided to intervene, though making sure not to startle Magnus, drunk or not, his gut didn't want to take any chances.

“Magnus, baby!” Jace said loud enough for both of them to hear and then side hugged the guy.

Magnus looked up at him with a frown. Aww, he’s a cute grump.

“Sorry, I know, I said I’ll be here sooner but the traffic wouldn’t let up.”

“It’s okay,” Magnus said, probably deciding to go with him and slowly leaned his head on Jace’s shoulder.

Jace smiled down at the guy and then looked up at the girl. She seemed to buy into the story and left grumbling something about wasted effort. Jace sat down on the barstool next to Magnus and ordered drinks for them.

“Haven’t seen your pretty face here before?” Jace asked.

“Needed to get away from the usual folks,” Magnus answered.

“Shitty day?”

“Very,” Magnus replied knocking back his drink and accepting the one the bartender put in front of him.

“Want to talk about it?”

Magnus turned toward him and seemed to ponder for a minute.

“You only want to sleep with me,” he opined

Jace smirked, “Maybe.”

“Ugh,” Magnus groaned, putting his head down at the bar.

“Okay, maybe not?” Jace replied considering the guy’s enthusiasm.

Magnus downed a couple more drinks. Meanwhile, Jace finished his own beer as he looked around to see if someone would catch his eye, other than the grumpy drunk next to him.

“Dance with me?” Magnus asked softly.

“O-okay?”

Magnus slowly got out of his barstool, grabbed Jace’s hand and dragged him to the dance floor.

They were playing some EDM, but Magnus didn’t seem to be in the mood for some mindless jumping around. He put his hands on Jace’s shoulders and swayed, which would have been sexy if Jace wasn’t busy making sure the guy doesn’t fall down.

After a while, Magnus was practically hugging him, with his head was now on his shoulder and they were barely swaying, _to EDM._

This is not how Jace had imagined his evening.

“Magnus?” He continued after the guy hummed, “How many drinks have you had?”

“Dunno.”

Jace sighed, looking up for some strength. He realized it was time for them to head home when Magnus started to feel heavy in his arms, probably falling asleep.

* * *

Magnus stirred, groaning as his brain slowly gained wakefulness. His body felt like it had been hit by a truck, though he doesn’t remember being in an accident. Ah! He does remember drinking like the world was ending, which would explain his current state.

It had been a horrible day, he came across this evil bitch, who also happens to be his ex, and does she know which of his buttons to push. He did put her in her place, but not without feeling the burnt. He then got called to his father’s office, getting there from his own office in the mad New York traffic didn’t do his mood any favor. His father had called him in to ask him for the millionth time to work with some companies to bring in huge profits, and for the millionth time, he had to explain it to him that he won’t work with the companies that don’t take responsibility for the damage they cause to the environment. Somehow, it turned into how he never listens to his father and how his father never respects his decisions. Poor Raphie had to intervene and drag Magnus out of there.

He gave up on the day after that, choosing to go to a bar instead of Pandemonium because he did not want his father to know what he was doing. He was five drinks in when a woman started hitting on him. He might have taken her up on it, but her mannerism reminded him way too much of his ex.

He remembers his new neighbor swooping in to save him, in a very hallmark way. He remembers dancing if you could call it that, with the guy. But he does-

“You up?”

Magnus shot up at that, supporting his weight on his palms. He stared wide-eyed as his neighbor, Jace, sat down on the other side of the bed, holding a cup of coffee and dressed only in his boxers.

“Oh God, No!” Magnus exclaimed, he took in his surroundings and realized that this wasn’t his bed, “Oh God, No!” he turned and sat down, only now realizing he was only wearing his shirt and boxers, he pulled the covers up and whined, “Oh God-“

“Relax,” Jace interrupted. “Nothing happened, you got shit drunk and practically fell asleep on me, in a bar. Dragging your ass up here wasn’t easy.”

“You could have dropped me at my place, it’s just a door away, the recep-“

“And who would have made sure you don’t drown yourself in your own vomit?”

Magnus relaxed, “Okay.”

“Ungrateful ass.”

Magnus recalled the guy saying he wanted to sleep with him. Oh shit!

“Look, Jace,” Magnus started.

“Hmm,” Jace replied, sipping his coffee.

“I- You- We can’t- Umm- You know?” Magnus looked at the guy hoping he would understand and not make him reject the guy in his own bed.

“Oh!” Jace seemed to catch on, “No. No. No. Don’t worry, not happening.”

“Really?” Magnus asked, surprised at the sudden change in attitude. “Just yesterday you were calling me pretty every turn.”

“I’m not saying you’re less pretty today, just, I don’t think it would be a good idea for us to hook up?”

“Why so?”

“Just, um,” Jace paused, “you said something.”

_Jace was looking out of the cab window, he wishes he had just stayed in, but maybe he was here to make sure Magnus got home okay? He was lost in his thoughts when he heard a soft ‘Jace’ come from Magnus. He thought the guy was asleep with his head on Jace's shoulder._

_“Hmmm”_

_“Why doesn’t anybody love me?”_

_Jace turned to look at the guy. Magnus was staring ahead, lost in his thoughts._

_“I’m sure they do,” Jace tried to assuage the guy._

_“Sure doesn’t feel like it.”_

_Jace didn’t know the guy enough to know what he could do to make him feel better, so for now, he made sure he would keep him safe._

Jace appeared to be lost in his thought when Magnus clicked his fingers to get his attention. He snapped out of whatever sobering thought he was having to his now-familiar nonchalance.

“Also, you live right next to me, it’s not like I can hook up with you and never see you again.”

That made sense, Magnus felt at ease now that he didn’t have to worry about the guy's feelings. That might have been apparent on his face because then Jace asked, “Don’t you have work to get to?”

“No, had a fight with my father, I’m pretty sure no one expects me to come in today.”

“You fought with Asmodeus Bane? Man, isn’t he like scary?”

Magnus laughed, he forgets his father might be a big deal for some people, “Naah, he is usually a teddy bear,” Magnus paused, enjoying the look of utter confusion on Jace’s face before continuing, “if your name is Magnus.”

“Wow, so he isn’t the black ninja the media makes him out to be?” Jace asked with genuine curiosity.

“For some people, he is in cut-throat corporate business, so he has to be. But, he is otherwise a sweetheart, and no, we don’t hate each other as the media portrays.”

“Oh! But then why did you fight?”

“We also work together, you know, sometimes professional arguments turn into personal arguments when your boss is also your parent.”

“Hmm. I guess,” Jace seemed to really consider what he said, “I mean, I don’t exactly get because I have an independent business, but my brother, I’ve seen him and mom get into those kinds of situations.”

“Your website didn’t mention a brother?”

Jace frowned, “It doesn’t have much personal information on me, that’s why.”

Before Jace could comprehend, Magnus snatched the cup of coffee from his hands and took a large gulp and sighed. “You need better coffee beans,” he commented.

“Then fucking get your own, that was mine.”

Magnus finished the coffee in a couple more gulps and handed the mug back to Jace. He proceeded to lie down and pulled the covers on himself.

“Dude?”

“Shhhhhh,” Magnus shushed him. He heard a faint ‘fuck you’ before sleep took over him again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The confusion in the fam begins.

Jace and Izzy smirked at each other. They had a rule as a family, whenever they would go out to dine, you were not allowed to bring up work because if you did, you were responsible for the bill. Mom and Alec were currently flouting that rule.

Alec noticed them and cursed, “Fuck.”

“What?” Maryse asked, confused.

“We were talking about work," Alec groaned, "It’s a ridiculous rule, ma.”

“Ah!” Maryse exclaimed.

“Says you, because you almost always bring up work,” Jace replied to Alec, who glared at him. That glare had stopped being threatening when they were around fourteen years old.

A moment later, the waiter arrived with their main course, and they dug into their meals.

“So Jace, how are you settling in your new place?” Maryse asked after a while.

“Hmm,” Jace looked up from his plate, “Oh, it’s actually really nice.”

“We know that. Mom is asking for some additional details,” said Izzy.

“New?" Jace thought about what to tell and then exclaimed, "Oh! Did I tell you guys I met the prettiest guy ever?”

Alec chuckled, “Please, we know about the mirror.”

Jace glared at that comment, “I am not talking about me, though thank you for acknowledging I’m the prettier one.”

He heard Maryse and Iz snicker, and of course, they’re the prettier ones, but this is between him and Alec.

“No, I meant Magnus Bane,” Jace turned to look at Maryse, “Yeah, mom, Bane like Asmodeus Bane.”

“MB brand owner Magnus?” Iz asked.

“Yeah,” Jace nodded, “can you guys believe I live next door to Black Ninja’s only son?” He chuckled.

“What kinda guy is he?” came Alec’s analytical question.

“The prettiest kind,” Jace sighed, “And he has such a sweet voice, you know?”

Jace didn’t realize the others at the table were squinting at him, wondering if he really meant what he was saying. Jace chuckled, “he does pack quite a punch though.”

“Hmph. Punch?” Alec managed to ask.

“Oh yeah, no totally my fault, I jump scared him. Oh, Alec, you’ve got to see him. You’re gonna be so jealous.”

If only Jace had vocalized his entire thought that Alec would be jealous that it is him staying next door to Magnus.

“Mmm-hmmm,” came the collective response.

“You know that day, Thursday, I guess, you didn’t come to the bar. Coincidentally, I ran into him, ended up taking the guy home,” Jace chuckled and continued without realizing what it sounded like, “You guys remember my Instagram post the other day, it was him.”

“The lump in your bed, that you captioned ‘cute’ was Magnus Bane?” Izzy asked to confirm.

“Yeah,” Jace nodded, “he had a fight with his dad and didn’t want to go to work, so he decided to sleep in.”

Jace didn’t even see the conclusion train that everyone else boarded at that moment, the train that was labeled ‘Jace slept with Magnus Bane’.

“Oh! And apparently Asmodeus Bane isn’t the evil father the media portrays; Magnus says he’s actually a sweetheart to him.”

“That’s nice to hear,” Maryse said, finally getting over the realization, “We’re proud of you, Jace.” She felt happy that at least one of her boys was finally dating someone.

“Huh?” at that Jace sobered quickly.

“Yeah, we are,” Izzy smiled at him.

“Thank you?” Jace replied, confused.

“Why didn’t you say anything before?” Alec asked. He had meant why Jace didn’t say anything about his sexuality before.

“I forgot,” Jace shrugged his shoulders.

“You forgot?”

“It’s not that important, and I mean, I would have told you guys eventually,” it’s not like he was trying to hide Magnus from them, Jace thought.

Alec thought he shouldn’t be hard on Jace, he always had an inkling anyway. So he just smiled at Jace, “whatever makes you happy.”

Jace chuckled as he remembered something, “The guy has the cutest snore, and when I told him later that he snores he threw a pillow at me.”

Everyone else on the table thought that it was nice to hear Jace talking about someone in such a manner, and hoped maybe this could be the relationship for Jace.

“Why don’t you tell us about Simon, Iz?” asked Alec, he thought he might as well throw her under the bus, like a good big brother. The glare he got from her was quite satisfactory.

“Simon?” Maryse asked.

“Um- Yeah- so I kinda met a guy too,” answered Izzy, she was going to make sure Alec is a dead man walking.


	5. Chapter 5

Magnus entered the elevator of his apartment building and pressed the button to his floor. He had had a long day at work and he just wanted to relax now.

“Hold the lift.”

Magnus looked up from his phone when he heard that familiar voice. Jace was rushing towards the lift and got in just as the doors closed. He slumped against the elevator wall and rested his head against the wall. Magnus turned to look at the guy, it was weird that he didn’t get any annoying, though they were actually endearing, comments about his looks.

“Too tired to compliment me today?”

Jace seemed surprised to see him, “Magnus? Hi!”

As Jace turned his face to look at Magnus, he was shocked to notice the bruising on his cheek and around the eye. He gently turned Jace’s face to get a proper look at the bruise.

“Who did you flirt with today?” he asked, making the guy chuckle.

“Oh, you don’t need to be jealous, baby.”

“I just wanted to know who to send a gift basket to,” Magnus replied, letting go of Jace’s face.

Just then the bell dinged, indicating they had arrived at their floor and they got out. Jace started to move towards his door, which was down the corridor.

Magnus was unlocking his door when his concern overtook him and he asked, “You have first aid for that right?”

“Huh?” Jace turned and smiled, “Nah! It’ll be fine.”

“Typical,” Magnus said, shaking his head in disapproval, “I’ll come over in a minute with the first aid, alright?”

“You don’t have-“

“Shhhhh,” Magnus smirked, it was fun shushing the guy, “Go wash up, I’ll be over, soon.”

Magnus didn’t wait for a reply and closed the door of his apartment behind him.

Chairman came over to greet him, or so he’d like to think.

_MEOW!_

Yep! That was an order to give the little guy food. He was acting like the automatic feeder hadn’t fed him already.

“Hello to you, too.”

Magnus took off his jacket and went to the washroom. After quickly cleaning up and setting the dinner for Chairman, he collected the first aid kit and made to leave.

“I’ll be over in a little while Chairman, don’t be- you know what just don’t mess up my jacket on the sofa?” Magnus waited for any kind of acknowledgment from the feline, who licked his paw as if taunting him, “Okay.”

He heard a knock at his door, he turned to the cat again, “Were we expecting someone?”

_Meow._

“Same!”

Magnus went to check who it was, holding the first aid kit in his hand.

He opened the door to a man, who was looking around as if he wasn’t sure of something, and sure enough, if Magnus had ever met this guy he would have remembered. Magnus smiled at him, “Hi.”

* * *

Alec was pissed off, firstly because of Jace for having his phone switched off, and secondly because of whoever had dared to get into a fight with his brother. Alec had been worried out of his mind since Luke called him and told him Jace had had an altercation, and he rushed to see his brother. He wished he wasn’t visiting him in his new place under such circumstances. Alec had been trying to call Jace to know which apartment was his, all he knew was that he was on the top floor.

Alec knocked on the first door he saw, glad that he was dressed well enough to not be confused for a burglar. Alec turned when he heard the door open and- _Holy Shit!_

He heard the sweetest voice greeting him with the most adorable smile.

_Please don’t be Jace’s boyfriend, PLEASE!_

Alec realized he should say something but what do you say to _that!_

He saw the guy frown, his smile diminishing a little and that should just not be allowed.

“Hello,” the guy said slowly this time, and Alec would like his brain to come online too.

“Hmmm”

_Form a fucking word, don’t- well, by now, he was beyond trying to look cool anyway._

“Um- hi,” Alec replied, finally.

“You- um- need something?” the guy asked frowning a little.

_Did he need something?_

“Jace?”

Thank the angel his siblings weren’t here to watch this.

“Oh,” the guy smiled, “his place is next door. I was just going over to see him.”

The guy came out of the apartment, closing the door after himself and started to walk further down the corridor. Alec just stared after him, stupefied.

The guy paused and turned to look at him and said, “Come.”

_Oh, he would like to!_

Alec started to walk and, of course, tripped, almost falling over. As if he wasn’t mortified enough, he heard a giggle. Alec looked up at the guy to find a concerned look on his face.

“Are you okay?”

All Alec could do was nod.

* * *

Magnus knocked at Jace’s door, trying not to think about the adorkably gorgeous guy behind him.

“Hi, sweetheart,” Jace opened the door, smirking. He had changed down to his t-shirt and shorts.

“Someone is here to see you,” Magnus replied, ignoring the term of endearment. It would be hypocritical of him to actually tell Blondie to stop.

Jace peeped out of the door to see Alec standing there with a pensive look on his face, “Oh, hi Alec.”

Alec’s world was just imploding. It would just be his luck that the most perfect guy he ever saw would be his brother’s boyfriend. He also felt incredibly stupid that he thought Jace was exaggerating about his boyfriend’s looks the other day.

“Magnus,” Jace said, pulling Magnus inside by his arm, “this is my brother, Alec.”

Alec found his strength and stretched his hand out for Magnus, who shook it gently. _Can he pull the guy away from Jace and hide him forever?_ Even if they do break up, would Jace ever be okay with him dating his ex? _Ahh!_ He was getting was ahead of himself.

“Alec, this is Magnus, the guy I told you about.”

Magnus turned to look at Blondie, “Told you about?”

“You can’t expect me to not tell my family I live next to Asmodeus Bane’s son!” Jace teased, leaning towards him.

“Ugh,” Magnus groaned, pushing Jace’s face away with his palm, and went inside, leaving the two guys at the door.

“You’re actually not straight?” Alec asked as Magnus left them.

Jace paled, “Why are you asking me that?” he shrugged and continued, “And it’s not like I ever said I was, people just assume, you know.”

“So back in college,” Alec paused, frowning, “Sebastian’s friend- that actually- I wasn’t way off, was I?”

Jace’s eyes widened, holy shit why was Alec going there all of a sudden. Not wanting to deal with that right now, he yelled, “Yeah Magnus, I’m coming!”

Alec was going to kill his brother, which would probably clear up Magnus’ schedule for him, too.

Magnus had been living in his apartment for a while now, it was customized to his liking, Jace’s apartment though was very ‘modern’ which was another way of saying minimalistic with no sense of personality.

Magnus was standing at the counter of Jace’s open style kitchen when he heard his name being called, he turned to notice Jace sitting down on the stool beside him, facing towards him. Magnus took some cotton and applied some antiseptic to the cut on his cheek, which made Jace hiss, but he ordered him to stay still.

Alec stood leaning on the back of the couch looking at his brother quietly getting his cut cleaned without whining much, which was unsettling because if it were him or Izzy instead of Magnus, that guy would not have shut up.

“Wh- what happened?” Alec managed to ask.

“Uh- you know some creep we were supposed to keep an eye on for Luke tried to run away and then-“

“You work for Luke?” Magnus asked surprised.

“Oh, yeah, Luke hires us all the time, when he needs some big names handled.”

“You kill people?” Magnus asked, taking a step back from him.

Jace pulled him back, chuckling, “We don’t kill people, we just help with moving these guys here and there, especially when they want to reduce chances of escape because of corrupt cops.”

“Oh!” Magnus relaxed, going back to fixing up the guy.

Alec noticed their ease with each other and, well, he doesn’t know how he feels about this.

Jace smiled, Magnus really was so sweet. He turned and saw Alec staring at them, and remembered he was in the middle of an answer, “Yeah, so he tried to run, and I tried to catch him, then a couple of his goons came in and well, they are all in custody right now.”

Alec nodded, at least something was okay in the world, “Um-“

“So you beat people up?” Magnus commented.

“They hit me first! And they were bad guys, baby!” Jace defended himself.

“Sure,” Magnus said, as he applied an ointment for the black eye Jace was sporting, who whimpered. Magnus patted his other cheek, “Such a tough boy.”

Alec could not bear looking at them being cute anymore. “I’m going to the washroom,” he said as he walked towards Jace’s room.

Jace and Magnus watched Alec rush out of the room.

“Is he okay?” Magnus asked, concerned.

“Yeah, he is alright. He is like that you know, ‘man of a few words’,” Jace replied, making air quotes.

“Okay? He seems nice though.”

“Aw, baby, are you interested in my brother?” Jace teased.

Magnus wasn’t going to admit to anything, so he stayed focused on putting the ointment back in the kit.

“Ah! My heart,” Jace clutched his heart in faux hurt.

Magnus swung his hand towards Blondie, hoping to hit something.

Jace moved away from Magnus’ hand, and in a move to avoid being hit, almost toppled, “Ahhh!”

In an effort to stop Jace from falling, Magnus quickly grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back. Meanwhile, Jace grabbed Magnus’s waist and pulled, making them move closer, both breathing heavily from the scare.

Alec saw them standing close as he entered the room, and no, he is not ready to confront how that’s making him feel.

“Yeah, so meet me tomorrow in the office, Jace, if you want to press charges. I’ll go now.”

Magnus moved away from Jace when they noticed him. _Look at them being coy now,_ Alec thought.

“You’re leaving?”Jace asked.

“Um, yeah, you’re fine and I have got a meeting in half an hour so, yeah, call me if you need anything.”

He was almost at the door when he turned and said, “It was nice to meet you too, Magnus. Bye, guys.”

Magnus only nodded as he watched the guy leave, feeling slightly disappointed that he didn’t get to talk to him.

Jace noticed Magnus watching his brother go, and teasingly elbowed the guy.

“Shut up,” Magnus warned.

“Wanna continue?”

“Hmmm,” Magnus wasn’t going to actually say yes out loud, and he went to sit on the couch.

Jace handed Magnus a cup of coffee and sat down next to him, with a bowl of popcorn, as they played the next episode of the show they had been binge-watching together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me take a little leeway with Jace's job, please.


	6. Chapter 6

“Blondie?”

“hmmm?”

“You wanna go clubbing?”

“mmm-hmmm.”

“Blondie, I’m serious.”

“Mmmmm.”

“Jace!” Magnus yelled, hitting Jace on the tummy with the back of his hand to get his attention.

“Ow! What?” Jace asked, looking annoyed.

“Did you even hear me?” Magnus asked, looking even more annoyed.

“You want to- um,” Jace paused, hoping Magnus would continue.

“You’re an idiot, I don’t even know why I hang out with you,” Magnus sulked.

“You hang out with me because you are lonely and Mrs. Howard,” who was the only other person on their floor, “is a fucking racist.”

“hmmm,” Magnus had to admit that that wasn’t entirely wrong.

They looked at each other. They were both in their jammies, Magnus’ a little flashier, at eight on a Friday night, sulking in front of the TV.

“I’ll be ready in five,” said Jace, sitting up.

“I’ll need twenty,” Magnus replied, standing up and moving toward the door.

Jace again relaxed on the couch at that and was about to press play when his keys came flying at his hand and he jumped, dropping the remote, “fucking hell.”

Magnus yelled at him from the door, “Don’t you dare watch without me. If you spoil something for me again, I swear to-“

“Go get dressed, you scary duckling,” Jace yelled back and got a door slammed at him in return.

* * *

An hour later, Jace and Magnus were standing in front of the Pandemonium. Jace started to move towards the queue that was in front of the entrance when Magnus grabbed his hand and pulled him away, heading straight for the gate.

“Wh-,” Jace started, “Magnus, I know you’re pretty but, I- don’t-“

“Dad owns the place,” Magnus muttered.

The guard nodded at Magnus, letting them in without a hassle. Jace grinned, “Wow, baby, I didn’t know befriending you came with such perks,” he said, making Magnus giggle.

Jace walked up to the bar and ordered drinks for them. He looked around the place and noticed that it had heavy security, he wondered if that was usual for the place or was something going on in the city that was being kept under wraps. Meanwhile, Magnus went and grabbed a table for them.

Jace had called his siblings to ask if they had any plans and invited them to hang out with them, Izzy had perked up at the chance to meet the ‘infamous’ Magnus Bane. Although Alec seemed reluctant to come, he knew Izzy won’t leave him much of a choice.

Jace picked up their drinks and went up to look for Magnus. The guy was sitting in a dimly lit booth by the corner. Jace was making his way over to him when he noticed a dude standing next to Magnus and everything from the guy's demeanor and Magnus’ irritated expression told him it was another of those unwelcomed flirts.

_He might have been one himself once, but they were friends now, alright?_

So he did what he had done the last time.

“Here you go, sweetheart,” Jace said putting the drink in front Magnus and sitting down next to the guy. He also put his arm around Magnus’ shoulder, for the extra touch.

“Thank you, darling,” Magnus purred and leaned into him.

They both looked up to glare at the guy who was still standing there. Magnus put his head on his shoulder, to drive the point home. The guy shrugged and walked away. _Fucking asshole._

“You should just hire me at this point as your personal bouncer, baby,” Jace whispered in Magnus’ ear.

“Ha ha, so hilarious,” Magnus replied with a sweet smile, though his voice dripped of sarcasm.

* * *

_Fuck him._

Alec had thought that he was coming to this club to hang out with his siblings like old-time; old times being since before Jace had moved out three weeks ago. But no, apparently that’s not the case. Alec was out here in this noisy club to watch his brother canoodling with his boyfriend. The one about whom Alec had not stopped thinking.

Izzy perked up when she noticed Jace, walking up to the boyfriends, “Hi guys!”

Alec reluctantly dragged himself up to them and waved at them, his smile quickly shifting to a frown once the greeting was accepted.

“Hi, guys!” Jace got up and hugged them both.

Magnus stood up as well, probably awaiting an introduction.

“Magnus, this is my sister Izzy, and you’ve met the grump here,” Jace introduced, and Alec thought he could go fuck himself. Jace turned towards Magnus and smiled, “Izzy, this is Magnus Bane.”

“Damn!” Magnus and Izzy uttered at the same time, they laughed and then hugged each other. Magnus would obviously get Izzy’s approval.

“Jace has told us so much about you, and I thought he was exaggerating when he said you were pretty,” Izzy said, still holding Magnus’ arms.

“Really?” Magnus asked and gave Jace an accusatory glare, “he didn’t tell me anything about you guys.”

Jace raised his hands in defense, “I’m sorry baby, but it’s not like we did much talking.”

_Of course, they didn’t do much talking._

Magnus shook his head at Jace’s comment, thinking about all the time they had spent binge-watching shows and movies.

Izzy giggled, taking the seat across from Magnus. Alec offered to go get drinks for them when Magnus stopped him.

“Alexander, wait!”

Alec had no idea why that made a spark run through his body.

“You don’t have to go, someone would deliver them,” Magnus continued, and Alec could only nod in response before taking a seat next to Izzy.

“He let you call him Alexander, wow,” Jace remarked, sitting down next to Magnus.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to,” Magnus apologized.

“No, it’s alright, I don’t mind,” and really why would he, the way Magnus said his name sounded wonderful.

“So, Magnus, tell us about yourself? How did you two meet?” Izzy asked.

“Well, your brother is a flirtatious moron, he spooked me twice before I ended up elbowing him, which was fun,” Magnus replied, as their drinks came.

Alec had to smile at that, it does sound like something for which his brother would get into trouble.

“Probably well deserved,” Alec said, and Jace made a face at him.

“Yup, I thought he was a stalker!”

“That’s a new low, bro,” said Iz.

“I did apologize! And I bought you a coffee!”

“Oh, if I knew you were gonna use that coffee like this, I wouldn’t have accepted it!” Magnus said with faux annoyance.

“Sorry!” Jace said, bumping his forehead on Magnus’ shoulder, making him hum in response.

Alec noticed how tactile Jace was with Magnus, which was new for his brother. He’d always known him to keep distance from anyone he dated. Alec had guessed it was because Jace was never too into any of them, which probably did not farewell for Alec, as Jace’s behavior meant he was really into Magnus.

_In reality, though, Jace and Magnus had spent most of last week cuddled on Jace’s couch, they didn’t have much of a physical boundary left between them._

* * *

“Wanna dance?” Jace held his hand out for Magnus, who obliged.

They had spent the last hour chatting in between drinks and nibbles, most of which was just Magnus and Izzy going on about almost everything, from politics to business to skincare routines, they discussed it all, while he and Jace just sat and listened for most parts. Apparently, Jace was tired of listening so he decided to ask Magnus to dance.

Alec watched the two walk up to the dance floor, Jace then twirled Magnus and pulled him in, bringing his hands to rest at Magnus’ waist. Since when did his brother get so romantic? He can’t even think along the line that Magnus should be with him because he deserves better when his brother is treating him so well. And frankly, he is a little bit proud of Jace for pulling his act together.

Izzy pretended to look at a text on her phone, though she didn’t miss the wistful look on Alec’s face. She felt bad for him. Magnus would have been perfect for Alec, but now that he was dating Jace, she dreaded the mess this triangle would become in the future. She tapped him on the shoulder, to get his attention, and then asked if he wanted to dance.

“Um, no,” Alec shook his head, "you go ahead."

“Come on, Alec,” Izzy got out of the seat and pulled Alec up by his arm, “it would be better than staring at them.”

Alec felt himself go pale at that insinuation, “It’s not like-.”

“Save it, Alec, I’m not judging you,” Izzy said, making Alec feel slightly less crap.

“Now, come on, dance,” Alec gave in to her insistence.

Magnus and Jace were just rhythmically moving with the beats when Izzy and Alec joined them. A girl came up to them and tapped on Jace’s shoulder, asking if she could dance with him, Jace turned and winked at them before going with the girl. Alec would be worried, but it did not look like Magnus minded that so he chose to ignore.

Soon, Izzy too was asked to dance and only Magnus and Alec remained.

Alec was just thinking about how to tell Magnus he was leaving when the song changed to something softer, and people started to pair off. Magnus looked at him, expectantly, and how does he say no to that face. He looked around for Jace and saw him dancing with a girl, _that ass_. He nodded and stretched his hand for Magnus, pulling him close.

Alec was looking into Magnus's eyes, and he could feel himself being drawn into a trance. He forgot he was dancing with a man who was spoken for, by his brother of all people and tugged the guy closer, swaying slowly with the music. Magnus looked beautiful up close like this, not that he didn’t look beautiful otherwise. Alec spun Magnus around and pulled him flush against his front, his hands going around Magnus’ waist and nosing at the guy’s neck. Magnus brought his hands to rest on his hands. They stayed like that for some time, before Magnus turned around in his hold, bringing his hands up to rest on his shoulders.

They were standing way too close and Alec realized they had stopped the pretense that they were dancing. Alec looked at Magnus’ highly kissable lips, and then up at his eyes, realizing Magnus had noticed and leaned in.

Alec was about to kiss Magnus when the song changed to something upbeat, breaking his trance. Magnus gave him a puzzled look which made Alec realize he was probably imagining the willingness on the guy's face. He pulled away from him and walked off the dance floor as fast as he could.

* * *

Jace noticed Alec walking away from the corner of his eye, and turned to look at Magnus, who still had his hands up as if he was holding onto someone invisible. He moved away from the girl he was dancing with and fit himself under Magnus’ raised arms, and pulled him close.

“What happened, honey?” he asked softly.

Magnus looked up at him, acknowledging his presence, “I-I don’t know.”

“Did he say anything?”

“No! One moment we were dancing really close, another he just pulled away and left.”

“Weird,” Jace declared.

Alec looked at them from a distance, feeling incredibly awful that he almost screwed up. He felt too guilty to stay there any longer. He sent out a text to notify his siblings and left the club.


	7. Chapter 7

Jace knocked at Magnus' door, holding a cup of coffee that he had picked up for the guy from the cafe on their block. God bless the barista for knowing Magnus' order. This was a peace offering for ditching the guy at the club last night.

A relatively short but handsome Latino guy opened the door, a frown etched in his face, "What do you want?"

Okay, that was rude.

Jace shoved past the guy into the apartment and yelled for Magnus, "Pretty! You got a boyfriend without telling me?"

"He's not my boyfriend," said Magnus, sounding thoroughly unamused.

Jace walked up to where he was standing near the balcony door and offered the cup with a curt bow, "My Liege!"

Magnus giggled, but accepted the cup and said, "This doesn't get you off the hook. Seeing as you're returning now, I take it the night went well?"

"Hmmm, it was okay," Jace said as he was going towards the couch, but that stupid cat showed up and hissed at him, making him yell, "Aahh! Magnus! Get that thing under control!"

"Be nice to him," Jace glared at the cat, hoping it got the message when Magnus continued, "Blondie."

Jace gave the guy a betrayed look and flopped down on his couch, his legs half dangling off the armrest.

"Who is this pompous ass you managed to find?" The Latino guy asked Magnus.

"Raphi, this is Jace. Jace, Raphael, don't mind the grumpiness, it's all mush inside."

"Oh, fuck you!" the guy yelled at Magnus, who only gave a sweet smile in return.

Magnus sat down on the couch with him and crossed his legs. Jace took the opportunity to put his head in his lap. He grabbed Magnus' free hand and put it on his head, silently asking for caresses, which he got. He closed his eyes and relaxed.

"This is weird," the grump declared, "Who is this guy and why does he have his head on your lap?”

Jace was too relaxed to bother replying.

"This is Jace Herondale, he lives next door, he moved in three weeks ago, and I met him two weeks ago. Yes, he does seem weird but he's adorable if you get to know him," Jace groaned in protest, "And, the tough guy image really fades away once you've seen him cry in three different movies."

Jace opened his eyes to glare at Magnus, but he didn't want the hand gently stroking his hair to stop, so he stayed quiet.

"The guy may be weird, but this image is weird, Magnus? I hadn't heard about him till yesterday and today he's lying with his head on your lap and you're playing with his hair!"

"You don't tell people about me, Pretty? I'm hurt," Jace pouted with faux hurt.

"You want me to tell people about the almost stalker I had?"

"What?" "I told you! I wasn't stalking you!"

"Mmm-hmmm"

"He stalked you, and you are sitting here with him like that?"

"Oh, calm down, Raphael! I was only teasing, he's legit. Don't worry your overprotective head, and for heaven's sake do not tell Dad that."

"Sure," Raphael said, although he was typing something on his phone, which, if Jace knew anything about reading people, was his name that he was sending out to the guy who does the 'digging' for him.

"How did he manage to get this close to you in such a short time?"

Okay, what is this, The Inquisition?

"I don't know, he just did?" Magnus replied with a shrug.

"I know you, Magnus," the guy said, "What did he do?"

"Um," Magnus hesitated.

Color him interested, he wants to know what he did too.

"What?" The guy snapped, and Jace was just about to tell him off when Magnus replied.

"Ugh, okay," Magnus groaned and continued, "He made me feel safe. That day, when I fought with dad, he found me, brought me home."

Jace thought back to when he'd decided he'd try to keep this glittering ass safe, it seemed like a faint thought to him but apparently meant more to Magnus.

"He, um," looks like Magnus wasn't done, "he was interested in me, but he didn't do anything, you know, unsavory"

"Magnus! I would never," Jace asserted.

Jace turned and lifted himself up on his hands to get on eye level with Magnus.

"I would never do such a thing to you or anyone, Magnus."

"I know, Blondie," Magnus smiled.

"And if anyone ever tries to harm you, I will kill them," Jace grinned before continuing, "you know I have the skills," he winked at Magnus.

Magnus hid his answering smirk by taking a drawn-out sip from his coffee.

"Are you done with your interrogation, Grouch?" Jace glared at Raphael, before flopping back down on the couch.

“Magnus,” Raphael sighed.

For the nth time, Raphael cursed Camille for Magnus’ emotional and physical abuse. Today might be the day he slips some information about her whereabouts to Asmodeus and have him take care of her, his promise to Magnus be damned.

Jace kind of gets it. Magnus shouldn’t be grateful for minimum human decency, although that made him banish any thought of why he probably was grateful.

“I’m going to go now, just don’t ever put your home address for official documents, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I won’t,” Magnus waved the guy off.

The guy disappeared into what was probably Magnus’ home office and came back with a small stack of envelopes.

“Won’t you stay for lunch?” Magnus asked, putting down his cup.

“Can’t, your father lets you have time off. He is a monster for the rest of us.”

“I’ll be sure to tell him that,” Magnus smirked.

“Don’t you dare, he would send me to another one of those stupid seminars, if he thought I was working too hard.”

Asmodeus Bane sounds nice, Jace thought.

For the second time that day, Raphael addressed Jace, “I hope I don’t have to tell you to not hurt him, he is-“

“Dude!” Jace raised a palm to stop the guy mid threat, “Trust me, that offer to kill was real.”

“Alright then, adios amigos,” Raphael turned to leave. He was almost at the door when he said, “Do finish those designs. I would hate to vote in favor of your replacement.”

“Oh, you little-” Magnus picked up a cushion and threw it in Raphael’s direction, which he expertly dodged.

At that moment Jace was reminded of Alec, he missed annoying the heck out of him for fun.

Once Raph was gone, Magnus smacked his head, “Stop smiling! Don’t you have to go change and take a shower or something?”

“Nah, nap first,” Jace said, he toed his shoes off and got comfortable, “no offer for lunch for me?”

“Like you would wait for an offer,” Magnus commented as he got up and stretched, “You nap, I’ll be in my office, don’t call for me.”

“Mmm-hmmm,” Jace hummed and got comfortable on the couch.

He watched Magnus disappear into the room he had guessed was the office and shut his eyes.

* * *

As Raphael was getting into the elevator of his office, he got a report on his query about the Herondale guy. The guy was the adopted son of Maryse Lightwood, hah! Asmodeus would love to know that fact. Probably not, his suspicious ass would probably think this was a ploy by the Lightwoods in an effort to poach them. Raphael had spent too much time convincing Asmodeus to change their law firm for it all to be in vain at the last moment.

Magnus looked like he had already adopted the guy, which did not surprise Raphael. He would just keep watch for anything out of the ordinary from the guy. You can never be too cautious when Magnus Bane was involved, that guy had a penchant for trouble.


	8. Chapter 8

“Alexander?”

Magnus was in need of some caffeine and some pick me up after being stuck in a design for the past hour. He was having a barely productive day at work; to have a timeline for a creative process is a capitalistic evil. He walked to the niche café across his workplace, where they sold his favorite latte in town. He got to the short queue at the counter when he thought he recognized the black hair and the stature. It had to be Blondie’s sexy brother.

“Magnus?”

Dressed in a charcoal black suit, fit to perfection, coupled with a black cashmere sweater the guy looked like he had just walked out of one of Magnus’ catalogs and he couldn’t help but swoon. He hoped he didn’t look as star-struck as he felt.

“What are you doing here?”

“My office is around here,” Magnus answered, “Got bored, came out to look for some inspiration, and looks like I found it,” he winked at the guy.

He hoped Alexander’s blush was because of his flirting and not the cold. He thought the guy was into him, given the other night at Pandemonium; nobody looks at your lips that _hard_ if they aren’t teeny tiny bit into you.

“Wanna join me for coffee?” Magnus offered.

“Um- I-“

Alexander seemed hesitant and looked like he was about to say no, so Magnus did what he does best, he made his expressions a little softer and in an overly sweet tone said, “My treat?”

“Yeah, sure, let’s order.”

Is he proud of manipulating people like that? No. Would he still do it? Only when necessary and getting Blondie’s brother to spend time with him is extremely necessary.

Once they had their order, Magnus directed them to a booth by the window. It was a pleasant day, and he would like to be seated in enough light to admire the pretty view in front of him.

“So, I haven’t seen you here before, I’m guessing it’s because you don’t usually come here?”

“Um,” Alexander looked up from where he was stirring some sugar into his coffee, “yeah, you’re right. I don’t usually come here.” He paused, “but we recently got a new client, so you can expect to see me around more.”

Magnus perked up at that, “Oh! that’s something nice to look forward to.”

Alexander finally gave him a smile, “yeah, something to look forward to.”

“Can I know who? Or does that come under ‘client-attorney privilege’?” he asked making air quotes.

Alexander smirked, “I would tell you, but we’re still finalizing the deal, so,” he punctuated that with a shrug.

Magnus nodded, he knew the intricacies of the legal corporate world.

“How have you been since I last saw you?”

Alexander squinted as if really weighing in his answer before saying, “Busy. Two different cases on trial, one pro-bono, another-,” he paused, “Sorry, I got too detailed there. I’ve been good, you?”

“It’s alright, Alexander, I don’t mind the details,” Magnus reassured, happy to ease away the frown on that gorgeous face, “I’ll tell you about my week, but it has mostly been me stuck in front of a design board finalizing the fall collection.”

“I could use a slow week for once.”

“And I can’t wait for the launch week. That’s when I don’t have a minute to spare.”

“I am sitting here with you, so I’d say I’m not that stacked.”

“I’m glad that you are,” Magnus smiled at the guy.

Alexander gave him an adoring smile before it morphed into a frown, “How’s Jace?”

“Blondie? I don’t know about today, but he was good last night when I left him snoring like a pig.”

Alec chuckled, “He probably ran out of the nasal strips.”

“Probably? Definitely ran out of those. And then he had the audacity to accuse me of snoring,” Magnus huffed his irritation.

“Oh, yeah, he said you have cute snores.”

Magnus gasped, “That asshole told you that I snore?”

Alexander gave him an apologetic smile as he informed him of his brother’s crime, “He said that at our family lunch.”

Magnus gaped, “Alexander,” he paused for effect, “If I kill your brother, I hope I can hire you as my defense attorney.”

Alexander laughed, “I don’t practice criminal defense Magnus, but I’m sure Izzy would help you out, she seems fond of you.”

“Ah! Then I suppose I’ll be in expert hands?”

“The very best in the game,” Alexander assured him, “But, let’s try nasal strips first?”

“Hmmm,” Magnus conceded. “That reminds me, you know you can come over and hang out with us right?”

Alexander frowned in the middle of a sip.

“I know Isabelle has been hanging out with her new friend these days and Jace was ranting on about how he shouldn’t have moved out because you are mostly alone at home these days.”

“I’m okay being alone, it’s peaceful without them dancing over me to do something with them,” Alexander smiled fondly, which kind of betrayed his annoyance at his siblings, he continued, “and he really should have moved out, Magnus, he had an hour-long commute to and from work.”

“Yeah, I know. But, still, you know the offer still stands right?”

“Yes, and thank you, Magnus.”

Don’t blame him, but he sort of likes the way Alexander says his name.

“I really should go now, Magnus, thanks for the coffee and the company,” Alexander said as he got up from his seat.

Magnus stood up himself, “It was nice of you to join me, Alexander.”

They walked out of the café together and Alexander held out his hand. _Oh, the chivalry of this man._

“You know the offer still stands, right?” Magnus said as he shook his hand.

“I know, and I’ll take you guys up on it sometime.”

Magnus hated letting go of that hand, _can he please hold it forever?_

“Bye, Magnus, see you.”

“See you soon, Alexander.”

Magnus stared after the man before he walked back to his desk and tried to make something of the inspiration he felt.

* * *

The elevator dinged, signaling that he had reached the top floor. The door opened to an old woman, Alec smiled at her, as a courtesy, she grumbled something about noisy neighbors and shoved past Alec to get into the elevator. _Rude much!_

He had decided to check up on his brother after his impromptu coffee date-

_Should he call it a date? Probably not._

-after his impromptu coffee _outing_ with Magnus.

His brother was fucking lucky to get to date such a beautiful man, _damn!_ All he could think about was what if he had met Magnus before Jace, they'd be in such a different position right now; hopefully on his bed, horizon- _Shut up, Alec!_

Anyway, checking up on Jace, making sure he isn't feeling guilty for something that isn't even wrong, is what Alec was currently here for.

Alec was heading towards Jace’s door when he heard Magnus scream. He rushed towards his door.

“Jace- No- No-,” he heard Magnus yell.

Shit! What was his brother up to? He pressed the bell, but it seemed to be broken as no noise came.

“No, no, no, no,” more yelling from Magnus.

Alec loved his brother and there was no way he would hurt someone like that, he seemed to genuinely care for the guy. He banged at the door, urgently. He called for them but apparently they didn’t hear him over Magnus’ loud pleading.

“Jace- stop this!”

Okay, breaking the door it is, they’re taking too long and he doesn’t want to defend his brother against criminal charges.

“Aaahh!”

Alec finally pushed open the door to find Magnus and Jace on opposite sides of the room, which was in complete disarray, with cushions lying on the floor all around. His attention was diverted when a cat started making circles around his feet.

“You guys weren’t opening the door,” Alec said when he saw them looking at the broken lock.

“Huh?” they both said, before pausing,

“We should get the doors enforced,” said Jace.

“Soo damn sexy,” Magnus said simultaneously.

“What?” Jace said before picking up a cushion and throwing it at Magnus, which hit him right in the face because he was looking at Alec.


	9. Chapter 9

Alec kneeled down to pet the adorable cat that was meowing at him. He looked up to see Jace and Magnus moving towards him.

“Man! Does that thing only hiss at me?” Jace grumbled.

“Probably because you call him a thing,” Magnus answered him while tying his robe, Alec almost told him to not close it.

“What’s going on here?” he asked now scratching the cat with both hands.

Magnus looked at Alexander and Chairman and felt his heart burst, he sighed and said, “just your brother being annoying, Alexander.”

“Hey!” Jace smacked Magnus’ shoulder.

“Ow!”

Alec picked up the cat, bringing it to rest in the crook of his arm, still scratching his head with his other hand.

“That thing would never let me do that,” Jace said.

“I’m not going to save you from Chairman if you keep calling him a thing,” Magnus chided.

They seemed irked with each other. Would it be wrong if Alec felt a little hopeful because they had a fight?

“What happened to you two?” he asked again.

“I called him ‘Angel’ and apparently that’s offensive,” Jace began.

“It is!” Magnus exclaimed, “I am nothing like Aziraphale if anything I’m Crowley!”

“No, you’re not!” Jace declared, and Alec felt his hopes crumble.

It looks like his secretly nerdy brother had found an equally nerdy boyfriend, and Alec was trying to feel happy for them, he really was trying. It wasn’t his fault that their cute bickering was infuriating to him.

“-you don’t even wear black that much!”

He caught the tail end of Jace’s argument.

“I so-,” Magnus started.

“Can someone call maintenance and have that door fixed?” he asked, and interrupted what he guessed was Magnus’ rant about-

He doesn’t even know what exactly they’re arguing about.

“Oh, shit, yeah, I’ll do that,” Jace said before rushing in to find his phone.

“It’s nice to see you again, Alexander,” Magnus chirped, “I’ll take him.”

Magnus took the cat from his hands and told him to follow him inside. He dropped the kitty near, what looked like, one of its seats, and went into the kitchen.

“Would you like some coffee or tea?” Magnus asked.

His smile was so infectious, that Alec couldn’t help but smile at him.

“Coffee, thanks.”

“Make some for me too, honey,” Jace yelled from the living room, and Magnus rolled his eyes.

They have a good thing going, Alec thought, suddenly feeling guilty over wishing they’d break up.

“Alec!” Magnus snapping his fingers in front of his drew his attention.

“Huh?”

“I asked if you would stay for dinner,” Magnus asked

Jace entered the kitchen, he came to stand next to Magnus and said, “Of course he would.”

Alec didn’t have the heart to refuse.

“Okay then Blondie, you’re ordering pizza,” Magnus ordered Jace, then turned to him and said, “Its pizza night for us, I hope you’re okay with that?”

Alec nodded; he did not want to acknowledge how these two were making him feel.

* * *

They had roped him into watching Venom with them, and well Alec isn’t strong enough to say no to Tom Hardy.

Alec had sat on the couch, with Chairman sleeping in his lap, as he drank coffee and watched the two bicker as they cleaned the room. They had then collapsed on the couch with him. He did curse his brother when he flopped down next to him and made the cat jump by groaning loudly. And aww! It seems Chairman’s dislike for Jace was stronger than their newfound love. Magnus had sat down on Jace’s other side, the only space remaining on the couch.

“Alright, the order’s placed, the movie is queued, let’s start,” Magnus announced.

They were just finishing up their dinner and on the screen, Eddie was telling Venom how to differentiate between food and people. He really loved the movie. He knew a few people he’d like to chomp off if he had a symbiote.

“So, what’s next?” Magnus asked.

“I really should go guys,” Alec said.

“Noooooooo,” they both groaned out.

“Come on, we were going to watch Godzilla last night,” Jace said.

“Oo, yeah, it sounds like a good movie,” Magnus said.

Alec gasped, “You haven’t seen it?”

“Um, no,” Magnus said, “You both really love this Godzilla thing, don’t you?”

“Yeah!” the brothers exclaimed simultaneously.

“Okay, watching another big monster it is,” Magnus sighed, and relaxed back into the couch.

“You’re gonna love him, I just know,” Jace claimed.

Alec settled back on the couch and felt grateful that Chairman had sat down on the side table next to him. The cat at least didn’t let him feel like he was third-wheeling.

* * *

Alec watched as the credits started rolling. Jace had fallen asleep halfway through the movie and was practically folded in on Magnus.

“I should go now,” he whispered, getting up. Chairman had left him around the same time Jace fell asleep.

Magnus nodded at him, he looked close to sleep too. He supported Jace’s head with his palm and then slowly shifted from underneath him. He put a cushion under his head and stretched out his legs in the space vacated by Alec, and covered him in the throw cover from the back of the couch.

Alec’s heart warmed at seeing someone care for his brother like that. He remembers covering Jace in a blanket anytime he fell asleep on the couch.

“Don’t worry, he’d wake up in a little while and crawl to bed,” Magnus said as he came close to him, Alec nodded, well aware of his brother’s habit.

Magnus walked Alec to the door, leaving a sleeping Jace behind.

Alec turned towards Magnus once they got to the door. Did he open his robe sometime between the couch and the door? Alec can’t deny he looks tempting.

They stood at the door for a couple of minutes, awkwardly looking at each other, not sure what to say.

“So, um, I can’t believe you don’t have someone waiting for you at home,” Magnus said coyly.

Alec frowned, “I’m sure Izzy is waiting, Magnus.”

Magnus groaned, “I mean someone like a better half or a precious other or just a date, you know?”

Alec frowned again, was it appropriate for his brother’s boyfriend to be asking him that?

“I don’t really get time to date between cases and meetings, Magnus,” he replied.

“Oh,” Magnus sounded disappointed, which Alec couldn’t understand why. “I’m sure your siblings encourage you to go out, enough.”

Alec nodded because honestly, he was tired of their nagging.

Magnus scoffed, then brushed a hand around his ear cuff, and said, “So, um, not even someone like me?”

“Um, uh,” okay, these are uncharted and unsafe territories, “um, I guess, if I met someone like you, I might think about dating them.”

“Really?” Magnus asked sounding chipper.

Magnus is a really sweet guy, but he was also his brother’s boyfriend, and right now he felt like his brother’s boyfriend was flirting with him. It would have infuriated him more if he wasn’t already harboring a massive crush at the guy. But, it did infuriate him.

“Magnus, are you being suggestive?” he doesn’t want to run circles with the guy.

“I thought I was being coy,” Magnus smiled.

“You and I,” he gestured between them, “this can’t happen, alright?”

It hurt to watch Magnus’ face fall like that, “Why?”

“I can’t be with you, I just can’t, and I don’t think you should pursue me,” Alec declared and walked away.

The hurt on Magnus’ face was making him weak, but he can never do that to his brother. He decided he would have to stay away from Magnus for some time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't blame Alec, he is caught up in his own assumptions.


	10. Chapter 10

Jace rang the bell again, he had been waiting for Magnus to open up for about five minutes now, and if they hadn’t got the door fixed just this morning, he would have broken it down again.

Finally, the door opened and Magnus quirked an eyebrow at him.

“Hey there, baby,” Jace said flirtatiously.

Magnus sighed, he turned around and walked away, leaving the door open.

“Wow, love your excitement,” Jace commented and followed, closing the door behind him.

He sped up when he saw Magnus walking towards his home office and caught him by the arm. Somehow, the quirked eyebrow intensified with anger. Jace dropped his arm and raised his own in defense, bringing them down only when the eyebrow permitted.

“Not in a good mood, I see,” Jace observed.

“What do you want, Jace?” Magnus asked.

“Okay, now you’re scaring me, what happened?”

“Nothing happened.”

“You fight with your dad again?” Jace guessed.

“No,” Magnus let out an exasperated sigh.

“Did I do something?” Jace knew his voice sounded small, but he really didn’t know if he had unknowingly hurt him.

Magnus seemed taken aback by that and he frowned, “Why would you think that?”

“I don’t know,” Jace shrugged, avoiding his intense eyes, “you’ve been awfully quiet this morning, you didn’t even ask me to quit slurping my cereal milk and then now you’re barely talking, obviously I did something,” he looked at Magnus again, “I just don’t know what.”

Magnus stared at him for a minute and slowly a smile took over his face, “Blondie!”

_Huh?_

Before he could say anything Magnus hugged him.

“I’m sorry,” Magnus said as he pulled back, “I was in a bad mood and I took it out on you, and no, _obviously_ , you didn’t do anything to upset me.”

“But then who or what did?”

“It’s alright, Blondie, I’ll be fine,” Magnus assured him, “I thought you had to go to work, what brings you here right now?”

“I do, that’s what I was here for,” Jace said.

“Hmmm?” Magnus frowned.

“I wanted to ask if you’d like to get lunch with me?”

“Sure,” Magnus was quick to agree.

“But, I’ve to go see my mom in her office, first,” Magnus’s brows furrowed in question, “it’ll be ten minutes tops and you can see Alec while I’m with her,” Jace had expected Magnus to grin at the opportunity, not flinch, “Magnus?”

“Um-,” Magnus pressed his lips together, he then gave him an apologetic smile, “I don’t think your brother would want to see me, Jace.”

Jace frowned, “Alec?” Magnus nodded, “you kidding me? He’d love to see you,” he insisted.

“I'm really certain he would not,” Magnus said shaking his head.

“The guy was drooling over you yesterday. I saw how he eyed you when you were tying your robe.”

Magnus shrugged, “I thought so too, but well, I guess we were both wrong.”

“We were?” Jace was confused now, “Did he say something?”

“Um, you know what; forget that, how about I get a coffee with you instead?” Magnus said, pulling him towards the apartment door by his arm, “I have a lot of work to do, so I wouldn't be able to stay out too long anyway. Hmmm?”

“I guess,” Jace drawled out, still feeling somewhat perplexed.

Magnus was clearly avoiding telling him something, something that was related to Alec. He decided to drop it for now since Magnus seemed adamant to avoid that question.

* * *

“How is Magnus?” Maryse asked once they had business out of the way.

Jace was sitting in Maryse’s office in Lightwood Herondale, his mom had taken over as the managing partner of the law firm once his grandmother had retired.

Having so many brilliant people around had been one of the reasons he had joined the army at eighteen. He didn’t have the same passion for the law as everyone around him, and he definitely didn’t want to give the LSATs and tank, definitely not when he knew Alec would ace them. He had nothing against Alec, heck Alec would have helped him had he asked, but he was tired of people pitting them against each other. No one gave a shit that neither of them liked that.

So he served a term in the army where he met his current business partner Maia, who was escaping her own demons at the time. But one term had been enough for both of them. They quit the army and joined business school together to bring to life their little baby, Witchlight Securities, a private security firm he started with Maia about two years ago. They appointed ex-military and paramilitary personnel.

Meanwhile, Alec and Izzy had become the shrewd lawyers that they were today.

“Magnus? He’s,” Jace couldn’t keep his smile away, “more amazing than one can imagine.”

Maryse gave him an adoring smile, “Bring him around some time, I’d like to meet him.”

“Sure, I'll ask him,” he said and got up to walk around her desk and gave her a hug, “I’ll see you soon, ma.”

“Stay safe, dear,” she hugged him tight.

He was heading towards the elevator when he ran into Alec, who looked like a man on a mission.

“Hey man,” Jace said, Alec turned around and took a second to react.

“Jace, hey,” Alec greeted with surprise and gave him a side hug.

“You left without saying goodbye last night,” he noticed Alec grimace at the mention of last night. _Maybe he would spill some beans?_

“Uh, yeah you were pretty knocked out, didn’t want to wake you,” Alec said.

“Since when do you let me sleep on a couch in peace?” Jace teased.

“Magnus looked like he had it covered.”

“Did you just make a pun?”

“Jace, I am kinda busy right now,” Alec started to move backwards, pointing over his shoulder.

“Alec wait,” alright looks like he’d have to ask point-blank, “did something happen between you and Magnus last night?”

Alec froze and glared, his voice was cold when he asked, “What did he tell you?”

“Uh,” he gulped, “he won’t tell me, just I know something did, because he flinched at the mention to come see you today.”

Alec sighed, “Nothing happened and nothing would happen, okay?”

Jace frowned, “What?”

“Jace I-,” Alec started.

“You looked pretty interested in him last night,” he interrupted and watched as Alec went paler than his usual pale self.

_Was Alec living in denial?_

“I did not.”

Jace scoffed at that, definitely in denial.

“And like I said nothing would happen, okay?”

“Alec I don’t want you playing with his emotions.”

Alec needs to snap out of that denial and get the guy before someone else does, Jace thought.

“What?” Alec almost yelled.

“Boys!” they turned around to see Izzy, “calm down, would you? You’re creating a scene here.”

They looked around and saw people suddenly snap into motion. Apparently, they had collected an audience.

“Fuck,” Alec swore, “I don’t have time for all this,” he said and left in the direction of mom’s office.

“Is he okay?” Jace asked Izzy as she came to stand next to him.

“Yeah,” she sighed, “he’ll be fine. You know how he gets when he’s stressed.”

Jace hummed.

“I’ll talk to him, alright?”

Jace nodded, he knew Iz would be able to talk sense into Alec, they both needed her to do that for them sometimes.

“How are you? And how is Magnus?” Izzy asked with a smile.

“I’m good, so is Magnus. Although why does everyone keep asking me about him, mom did too?”

“We just don’t want you to fuck it up, okay. Knowing you the chances are pretty high,” she teased.

“I’m not that bad,” he grumbled. He knew he wasn’t a very good friend to people, but he wasn’t that bad.

He guessed he hadn’t had such an influential friend before, maybe they didn’t want him to offend Asmodeus Bane’s only son right when they’re about to close the deal with them. He had walked in on mom discussing it with Mrs. Penhallow earlier.

Izzy sniggered at that, she hugged him, “I’ll see you soon, brother,” she said as she pulled away, “don’t worry yourself too much about Alec, okay? He’ll be fine.”

“I trust you,” he sighed, “bye” he said and kissed her head before leaving.

He hoped her talk with Alec would make that stupid guy admit his feelings for Magnus. They’d make such an adorable couple.


	11. Chapter 11

“Magnus, dear, for your poor old man’s sake, would you consider it?” Asmodeus pleaded.

Magnus pondered over his suggestion for a while, the plea on his father’s face increasing in intensity. They were standing in his kitchen as Magnus prepared dinner for them. Though they do have dinner together every other week, it’s rare for his father to come over. Magnus was happy to have him over, but not as much as Chairman, who was sitting on the kitchen counter in front of his dad, purring as he received his pets. Is Magnus jealous that his Papa is his child’s favorite? Only a little bit.

“First of all, Papa, you’re way too far from poor so don’t say that it doesn’t suit you,” Magnus started, his father sighed and rolled his eyes at him. “Second,” he continued, “you’re not that old,” he grinned, getting another eye roll but this time with a smile. “And, Papa, you don’t even know if she’ll do anything, and if she does, I didn’t learn all those combat styles for you to hire more security.”

“Magnus, son-” his father was interrupted by the bell ringing.

* * *

Jace banged at Magnus’ door, “Pretty! Open Up!”

He had just got back from work, on a damn Sunday! He didn’t deserve to keep waiting at the door. He swears he is going to kill-

The door opened and he gasped because Asmodeus freakin’ Bane was standing in front of him.

“Yes?”

Pretty was so fucking dead, he could have warned Jace that his father was coming over, but _no!_ That’s too much effort for his glittering ass!

“I’m supposed to invite you in,” said Asmodeus, and yup, he can see why he is considered so intimidating.

“Bla-“

Asmodeus raised a finger to stop him, “Please don’t say Black Ninja, that’s really old and not one of my favorites.”

“Yes! Sorry, Mr. Bane. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Asmodeus gave him a little nod, which he translated to mean ‘of course it’s a pleasure to meet me, mortal’.

“Papa!” he heard Magnus call from somewhere inside the house.

“Come on in then, gentleman. Shouldn’t keep my son waiting,” Asmodeus instructed and Jace followed him inside with a curt nod.

* * *

Magnus watched as Chairman hopped off the counter and sauntered to his father, as he returned with Blondie following behind. Chairman pawed at his father’s trousers, asking to be picked up. Once he was in his father’s arms, the cat hissed his greeting at Blondie before hiding his tiny face in his father’s chest.

Blondie would usually swear at the cat, but today he just smiled at him before Magnus heard him say, “Cute cat.”

That’s a red flag if Magnus ever saw one.

Dinner was done, so Magnus turned off the stove and went to join the other two.

Jace handed him the dessert, “You asked for this, Magnus.”

Magnus brought the bag close to his face and took a deep inhale, “Hmmm, perfect. Thanks, Blondie.”

“It’s my pleasure.”

Magnus frowned at the sheer politeness in Jace’s voice; ignoring that he set the dessert on the table and then went next to his father, and scratched the purring feline in his arms.

“Jace, I think you already know, but this is my father, Asmodeus Bane,” Magnus smiled at Blondie, “and this here, Papa, is my new friend and neighbor, Jace Herondale.”

“Finally someone better than that old Grinch,” his father said, making them giggle. “Join us for dinner, young man, I'd like to get to know my son’s friend.”

Was Blondie blushing?

“I would love to, Mr. Bane,” Magnus squinted at the guy, something was off with him, “please excuse my disheveled appearance. I would have cleaned up, had Magnus told me you were coming over.”

Magnus scowled as Jace glared at him while smiling.

“Oh, no bother, you look pleasantly fine, dear,” his father reassured Blondie, who was red now, “why don’t you go freshen up while Magnus here would make us a couple of drinks, won’t you darling?” his father asked turning towards him.

Magnus nodded, “You know your way to the washroom, Blondie.”

“Magnus,” his father said sternly.

“Sorry,” Magnus apologized, rolling his eyes, “Jace.”

“Oh, it’s alright, Magnus,” Jace said, he did not like the smugness on that face one bit.

* * *

They were seated at the dining table having dinner. Magnus was sat across from Jace, and his father was sitting between them.

“Jace,” he called, finally making the guy look at him for more than two seconds, “Is everything okay at home?”

“Uh?” Blondie frowned, “yeah? Why do you ask?”

“You’ve been relatively quiet all night,” Magnus said, innocently.

“I’ve not been quiet, Magnus,” Blondie chuckled, but his frown intensified.

“But you haven’t made a single comment about me, you haven’t made any lewd jokes, and you haven’t even made any innuendos, are you feeling okay, darling?” his voice was dripping with faux concern.

Blondie paled, he picked up his drink and took large swig.

_Big mistake._

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you have a crush on my father,” Magnus smirked.

He watched Jace spit out the wine and yell, “Oh MY GOD! Magnus!”

Magnus only laughed in response.

Jace turned to his father, “I’m so sorry Mr. Bane, please don’t feel uncomfortable.”

There was a small smirk on his father’s lips, but he shook his head slightly. Blondie didn't look satisfied and continued explaining himself.

“I was- I was- in college- and, you- you were all over the news- I just- what you did- I mean mom made Alec follow your case closely- so you know- I only followed because he had your interviews on TV all the time. It's not like I was in love with you or something.”

Magnus, who had just gotten his laugh under control, burst out laughing at that, especially when he noticed his father’s eyes widen.

“It’s alright, Jace,” his father reassured, or tried to reassure.

“Oh, God!” Jace looked pale but he went red when he realized what he had said, “It was back in college Mr. Bane, and you were so handso-,” Jace covered his face with his hands, “someone stop me,” came his muffled voice.

“Awwwwhh,” Magnus cooed at Blondie, who looked up at him and glared daggers. He might have taken him seriously if only he wasn’t so pink right now.

“I’d say Papa is still handsome, won’t you agree?” he teased.

“I will kill you, Pretty,” Blondie threatened, “You’re dead.”

“Alright now, both of you, calm down,” his father instructed.

He tried to control his giggles, while Blondie looked like he was trying to control the steam coming out of his ears.

“Magnus,” his father said, authoritatively.

“I’m good, I’m good,” he said, raising his hands in defense.

“Mr. Herondale,” Jace grimaced at that and looked down, his father continued, “please excuse my son, he is rather mischievous,” he got a mild glare from his father, “and I’m really flattered by your, uh-, infatuation.”

Jace made a little noise that was very close to being a whimper.

“Now, both of you finish your dinner so that we can have the dessert, that Jace here brought for us, hmm?”

They both nodded and dug into their remaining food. He kept giggling every time Blondie would glare at him.

* * *

Jace was unlocking his door later that night when as he heard someone clear their throat behind him. He turned to see Mr. Bane standing there.

“You need something Mr. Bane?” he asked.

“I’m afraid I do, Mr. Herondale,” Mr. Bane said.

“Come on, I had finally got you to call me ‘Jace’,” he pretty much whined.

“This has to be a little formal, Mr. Herondale, can we talk in your apartment?”

“Um, yeah, sure, come in,” he opened the door and Mr. Bane followed him inside.

Before he could move further into the living room, Mr. Bane started speaking, “I would like to hire you, Mr. Herondale.”

Jace spun around too fast at that, “What?”

“You provide private security, don’t you Mr. Herondale?” Jace nodded, “And I’ve seen your small but impressive military record, I would like to hire you personally.”

“I- uh- I-,” Jace was lost for words.

“I would pay you whatever you ask,” Mr. Bane offered.

“Wait a minute,” his brain finally caught up, “how have you seen my military record?”

Mr. Bane snickered, “There isn’t much I can’t do, Mr. Herondale.”

“Then why do you need me?”

“My son can be annoyingly stubborn,” Mr. Bane sighed, making Jace giggle, he continued in a grave tone, “I’ve received some intel that he may be under threat, and he won’t listen to me about his security. This- this woman,” he paused taking a deep breath, “she intends to destroy me, and she has decided that harming Magnus is the way to do it.”

Jace nodded, understanding the severity of the situation.

Mr. Bane continued, “I’ve always had some security around him," Jace thought back to the heavily guarded club they had been to, "but the last time we caught her thugs, they had gotten too close for comfort. He wouldn’t accept a bodyguard, but he already seems close to you.”

“Uh- Mr. Bane, I-,” before Jace could form the response he was interrupted.

“Mr. Herondale, like I said, money won’t be an issue, and I could payout your other appointments and whatever you’ve-“

Jace’s raised hand made the man pause, “I can’t agree to that Mr. Bane, and before you start again, it’s not about the money.”

“Then why?” okay the man seemed angry now.

“I’m assuming you wouldn’t want Magnus to know about our little deal here,” the man nodded, “and I’m sorry but I don’t want to make money off of my friendship with your son, if he finds out I did that, his poor little heart would be crushed! I’ve seen him cry, it only made me cry harder!”

Mr. Bane smiled at that, he probably knew what Jace meant.

“I can’t accept it as official business, but as his _friend,_ now that you’ve warned me that he may be in danger, I would do my best to keep him safe.”

“You’re a better man than I thought, Jace.”

Jace smirked at him and shrugged.

“I’m happy that Magnus has you,” Mr. Bane stretched out his hand and Jace shook it, “If you need anything, you can text me.”

“But, I don’t have your-,” just then Jace’s phone vibrated in his pocket and he took it out, it had a text from a private number, which contained a number.

“Now you do,” Mr. Bane gave him a slight head bow and left.

Okay, past Jace would have been so fucking thrilled if he knew he would have the man’s number one day!


	12. Chapter 12

Magnus knocked at Jace’s door. It was just past one on a Saturday afternoon, usually, Jace was already at his place, raiding his breakfast pantry or dragging him to the café down the block for some food. The fact that he hadn’t shown up was worrying in itself.

“Jace! Open Up!” he said knocking louder.

He pulled out his phone, and yes, there was no text from Blondie telling him he’s out. He banged at the door.

“Open Up, Blondie, or I’ll break-,” he yelled, after about a minute of banging at the door.

Blondie snapped open the door looking sleep rumpled, “What?”

“You’re still sleeping?” Magnus said, surprised. Blondie wasn’t an early bird, but he was up early enough, way too early for Magnus’ liking.

“I _was_ , apparently you can’t accept that!” Jace grumbled.

“Okay, someone’s grumpy.”

“Ugh,” Blondie rubbed his face with his palm, “Sorry, I got in this morning, and well yesterday was exhausting.”

“Mmmm,” Magnus understood that.

“Anything you need, honey?” Blondie offered a small smile, which looked like it took a lot of effort, and Magnus appreciated that he tried.

“I need, or well Papa asked me to ask you to accompany me to a party tonight. So, I’m just here to inform you that you’ll be accompanying me to a party tonight.”

“Magnus,” Jace whined.

“You want me to tell him you said no?” Magnus turned around and took a step forward, “Okay.”

“Magnus, wait!”

He somehow kept the grin off his face and turned back, and innocently asked, “What?”

“You know what? Don’t think I don’t realize when you’re being a manipulative asshole!” Jace glared at him and bowed his head before he continued, “But it works, I’ll come with you,” he looked up again and pointed an accusing finger at him, “It better be worth it.”

“Oh, it’ll definitely be worth it, and don’t worry about your clothes, just be at my place at,” he checked his watch, then looked at Jace’s face and realized something, “you’ll be over in an hour, wouldn’t you?”

“Yeah!” Jace said, although it felt like a ‘duh’, “I need breakfast, don’t I?”

Magnus sighed, “I want to hate you, so bad.”

“You’ve said that before, now bye,” Jace said before closing the door on him.

He does not like sleep-deprived Blondie.

* * *

“Alec, try this tie on,” Izzy said, walking out of his closet with a golden tie in hand.

“Iz, they have a dress code, and that’s not in accordance,” Alec replied, fixing his cuffs.

He was standing in front of the wall mirror in his room getting ready for Asmodeus Bane’s party. They had a dress code, which was more like a color code of black and purple. Alec had come out of his room dressed in an all-black suit when Izzy had stopped him in his tracks.

She had a trial coming up this Monday and thus had decided to skip the party, though Alec suspected it had something to do with the fight she had with mom, something that neither of them has decided to share with him.

Izzy had dragged him back to his room and dug through his closet to find him better clothes. That was how he ended up dressed in an eggplant purple shirt and a black vest on it topped with a velvet blazer in the same color as the shirt. He was wearing black pants and a black bowtie. You’d think he was dressed in a costume for Halloween and not for a party. But Izzy thought he looked good, so he chose to believe her.

Alec didn’t even know he had all this stuff. These were all kept in the gifts from his friends and family section of his closet, which was all too flamboyant for his taste so he rarely used that stuff.

“You will be okay, right?” Izzy asked as she dropped the tie on his bed, and came to fix the bowtie he had gone with instead.

“Yeah,” he looked down at her concerned face, “why wouldn’t I be?”

“Alec, Magnus is a huge part of Asmodeus’ company, he will be there.”

“I know that Izzy,” he smiled at his sister, “you realize I’m a big boy, right? You don’t have to worry about me, out there in the big bad world.”

“He isn’t big bad, Alec,” Izzy sighed, “I wouldn’t worry about you if that’s what you were up against,” the look in her eyes wasn’t making Alec feel all that confident, “he is sweet and charming, and that makes you-“

“I would not hook up with my brother’s boyfriend, Iz,” Alec asserted.

“I didn’t say you would Alec, calm down,” Izzy said, sounding irritated, “but you would-“

“Izzy, please,” he put his hands on her shoulders and waited till she looked at him, he smiled and said, “It’s just a party, Iz, I’ll go make some small talk, have fun-,” she quirked an eyebrow at that, “try to have fun and drink some ridiculously overpriced wine,” he got a hint of a smile. “We don’t even know if Magnus would be there, so don’t worry about it, okay? Have some faith in your big brother, alright?”

She finally smiled and hugged him. He held her tightly and kissed the top of her head.

“Alright, fine, I trust you,” she conceded, then backed away from him and picked up his phone, “say cheese, Alec.”

He frowned instead.

* * *

Magnus was sitting at his Bali vanity, still in his robe, and doing his make-up; he needed that eye shadow to be perfect. It was a grand piece of furniture that had been a house warming gift from his father when he had moved into his apartment. Magnus loved both, his father and the furniture.

No, he isn’t comparing his father to a piece of furniture.

“I think this looks damn fine.”

Blondie walked into the room, wearing the clothes Magnus had picked out for him. Thankfully his father had told him to bring him along before Magnus had ringed his personal tailor. He had gotten a suit altered for Blondie as well, and looking at him now, yup he got those measurements right.

“Hmmm, I chose well,” Magnus complimented him, and Jace narrowed his eyes at that, his smile still intact.

Blondie was dressed in a black shirt that had the top buttons undone. He had on a paisley print mauve vest over it, and black pants. Magnus had picked that vest for him to coordinate their attires. He also had a black silk blazer for Blondie with soft highlights on it in mauve, which he would hand him later. 

“No tie?” Blondie asked

Magnus came over to him and fixed his collar, making sure it’s not left too wide, but wide enough to show off Blondie’s tattoo.

“And hide that tattoo?” Magnus winked at him.

“You like this?” Jace asked, amused.

Magnus hummed, adjusting his sleeves now and fixing his cuff links.

“You should see Alec’s,” Jace said.

Magnus looked up at that, “Alexander has a tattoo?”

“Mmhmm, he just covers it up, because you know, courts and businesses and all,” Jace answered.

“I-,” Magnus wanted to ask what it was but he remembered he wasn’t welcome there, “good for him, I guess.”

“Magnus, baby, you gotta talk to me,” Jace said softly.

Magnus started to walk away from him because Blondie’s clothes were fixed, but he was stopped by his arm.

“What happened between you guys, please tell me,” Blondie urged, “Alec won’t talk to me about it either.”

“Don’t make that face, this isn’t TV remote you’re asking for,” Magnus commented.

“You know that I would have just snatched that. This you’ve to tell me, one moment you’re both making heart eyes at each other, across me, _mind you_ , and next I wake up and you both flinch at the mention of the other,” Jace ranted scowling.

Magnus knew his lips quivered a little; okay, he thought he had just imagined all that, but now that Blondie verified all that, the rejection felt more personal.

“I- okay- um-,” Magnus hesitated.

“Magnus,” Jace drawled out his name, much like his father and Raphi.

Magnus glared at him, “Okay, so I might have flirted with him a little and I guess he didn’t like that and he said nothing can happen between us and he told me to not try.”

Jace gaped, “he did what?”

“Jace,” Magnus warned, he was in no mood to repeat that.

“There has to be something wrong, I am so fucking sure he-,” Jace started, he stopped when he saw Magnus glaring daggers at him, “alright, okay, sorry," he raised his hands, “But I-“

“No Jace, can we not talk about that?” Magnus implored, “It’s been a week,” he saw Blondie was about to protest, he brought his hands up to rest at Blondie’s upper arms and saw him sigh, “let’s just go to this party and enjoy. I promised you great food, didn’t I?”

Blondie scoffed and shook his head, “whatever you want, honey. Am I ready?”

“Yeah, pretty much, now shoo, I’ve to get ready too,” Magnus waved him away and then sat down at his vanity again.

He was fixing his eyeliner when he looked up to see Blondie still standing there, “What?”

Blondie just smiled and shrugged, “just watching.”

“Don’t make me conscious! This needs to be perfect,” Magnus growled.

Blondie hummed, and then took out his phone, he snapped a couple of pictures of the mirror in front of them.

“Can you not?” Magnus asked, irritated.

“Aww, come on, smile for the camera, Pretty,” Blondie teased.

Magnus glowered at him.

Blondie came to stand beside him and bowed. Magnus watched him from the corner of his eyes. He flipped the camera and stretched his hands in front of them, and Magnus rolled his eyes at the interruption. Blondie turned his face to him and made an exaggerated pout, Magnus frowned at him in the mirror.

“What are you doing?” Magnus asked.

“Taking a picture, of course, now give us a kiss,” with that Blondie pouted again.

He shook his head and couldn’t keep the smile off his face. This adorable idiot was way too nerdy for all his machismo.

* * *

Jace was sitting on the couch in Magnus’ apartment, looking through the photos on his phone that he had taken a few minutes ago. There was a ridiculous picture of him pouting at Pretty, who was smiling even though he looked irritated. He decided that one looked good enough for Instagram, so he posted it. He had just finished uploading when Magnus finally walked out of his room.

_Damn! Alec had said no to this?_

Magnus was wearing a silk blazer and pants, which exactly matched Jace’s vest, over a black shirt, which had top few buttons left open to display his chest. He was wearing quite a few chains and necklaces and the highlights in his hair made sense now. He was a sight!

“Well, you can stop gaping and actually tell me how I look?”

He shut his mouth, “Um- Yeah- you- look good,” he shrugged.

Magnus giggled. _Alec is an idiot!_

“Don’t flatter me Blondie, I know you only want me to get close to my father,” Magnus teased.

“Oh, fuck you!”

It had almost been a week since that dinner, but Pretty hadn’t let him live it down.

“Aww,” again that irritating cooing, Magnus continued, “Let’s go and see which Bane has you more tongue-tied today, hmph?”

“I hate you,” he grumbled, making him giggle again.

“Here,” Magnus handed him a blazer, “wear this.”

He put on the blazer, and stood still, while Pretty made some final adjustments in his outfit.

“Oh, I’m so using you whenever I’ve to attend some event,” Jace said.

“I don’t do this for free, Blondie,” Magnus replied.

“I don’t protect people for free,” Jace murmured.

Magnus paused and looked at him, “What?”

“Nothing, honey,” Jace metaphorically bashed his head for letting that slip, he asked, “are we ready?”

Magnus nodded. Jace took his hand and pulled him towards the door, “Come on then, let’s go, or we’ll be late.”

“Wait, I’ve to fill Chairman’s snack bowl.”

Jace groaned as Magnus rushed towards the kitchen. He looked at his phone again and saw a few notifications from Instagram. He opened the app to see a few people had liked the picture including Izzy, who had also commented. He clicked on the notification to see that she had commented an emoji of a girl facepalming underneath the photo. Huh, weird?

“Let’s go, Blondie,” Pretty said.

He put away his phone in his pocket and followed the guy out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Izzy feels how you're feeling.
> 
> Magnus coordinated them 'cause he is a fashion designer, he isn't walking into a party with anyone he isn't coordinated with.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, my dears, but here I am. I hope y'all would enjoy this.

Jace got off the car, a Mercedes ML 400 model. He was surprised Asmodeus hadn’t sent a limo to pick them up, but the expression that Pretty gave when he had said that out loud told him why they weren’t getting picked up by a Limousine.

He got around the back of the car and came to stand next to Magnus, who had just got out as well and was buttoning up his blazer. He offered his hand to him, Magnus stared at him and quirked a brow. He winked back and smiled at the guy; Magnus shook his head slightly but took the proffered hand.

There was a swarm of paparazzi flocking the entrance to the venue, one would think this was a movie premiere.

“Are there going to be movie stars in there?” he said, leaning into Pretty so that he can hear him over the chatter around them.

Even though there were cameras on either side of them, he doesn’t think anyone actually snapped a picture of them as they walked by, which he thought was pretty odd to him.

“There might be,” Magnus replied.

“Thank fuck you dressed me!”

Pretty laughed as they reached the door without much hassle.

Inside the door was a completely different story.

They were led to a large brightly lit hall. The walls were mostly white marble-lined walls and floor made it feel far more spacious. There were golden highlights in the interior design giving it a rather luxurious look. The interiors were perfectly contrasted by the people milling around in dark apparel.

There was a grand piano set on one corner of the room and a small orchestra was set next to that. A woman in a purple gown was singing some jazz songs. The servers were dressed in white and gold, so it was easy to differentiate.

He looked around to gauge the place. There were about a hundred and fifty people there, give or take ten, taking care of Pretty wouldn’t be a difficult task.

_Oh, he knew why Asmodeus Bane had requested his presence._

“You brought him?” he heard a vaguely familiar voice say and looked ahead to see Grouch walking towards them, “I thought you said nothing was going on between you two,” Grouch said gesturing towards him and Pretty.

Jace picked up two flutes of champagne from a server walking by them and passed one to Magnus.

“Nice to see you too, Raphael,” Magnus answered, “There _is_ nothing going on between us, I brought him along because dad asked me to.”

“Oh,” Grouch exclaimed.

_Oh, fuck!_

Magnus frowned, “'Oh’ what do you mean by that ‘oh’ Raphi?”

Grouch tensed, although his face remained blank, “I hope you have fun,” he fixed his jacket, avoiding Magnus’ eyes, “There are some people I need to meet, so see you guys around,” and he walked away.

“Raph- Raphi!” Magnus called after the guy but it was of no use.

He took a sip when Magnus turned to look at him, his frown still in place.

_He wasn’t taking that up._

“What was that all about?” Magnus wondered.

A server walked by with a tray of assorted hors d'oeuvres, and he shoved a couple in his mouth to avoid answering that.

“Slow down would you?” Magnus giggled and had one while thanking the server.

* * *

They had been at the party for about half an hour and had hardly made any headway into the crowd. This was a rather large group of people compared to the private parties his father usually throws. He would have usually greeted all the people present by now. Although it also didn’t help that everyone was interested in getting to know who Blondie was and the occasional question of if they were dating. He had shut those down promptly.

Most people knew not to gossip about him, his father had made sure of that after- _but_ you cannot stop everyone, not that he took any offense in these. It was rather hilarious.

“Oh, sorry to assume,” said Mrs. Adams, she was the wife of Mr. Adams, who owned a major share in their textile branch. “Though, I must say you guys make a very dapper couple.”

Magnus smiled and looked at Blondie, who was grinning at the praise.

“Oh, Melinda, leave the boys alone, would you?” said Mr. Adams.

“It’s alright, Arthur, and thank you so much, Melinda darling,” he said. She was harmless and well, he had made sure they’d look irresistible.

“If you’d excuse us, we still have to greet Mr. Bane,” Blondie excused them and they said goodbye to the couple.

“This is exhausting,” Blondie complained once they were relatively alone.

“Tell me about it,” he sighed and looked around, “Did you see any other server carrying that sushi tray?”

Blondie looked around as well, “I want the cake one.”

It would just be his luck to spot the man of his desire, instead of the snack of his desire; either way, he did spot a _snack._

Alec was in a conversation with some handsome blond man.

_Is that it? Does he need to color his hair for Alexander to consider dating him?_

Magnus watched as Alec laughed, throwing his head back, having no care in the world for the looks he got for laughing out loud among such a pretentious crowd.

“Alec? What’s he doing here?” Blondie seemed to have spotted his brother as well.

“Attending a party?” he answered, or tried to because Blondie glared at him. “What?”

“Why is he attending a party?” Blondie rephrased.

“How should I know?” he questioned back.

“Let’s go ask him,” Blondie said and took hold of his hand, pulling him in the direction of his brother.

_Oh! No._

He shook off Blondie’s hold and took a couple of steps backward, “I’m not going up to him.”

Blondie turned around and frowned, “Really?”

“No!” he asserted, “he was very clear about wanting me to stay away.”

“Oh come on! It’s a party. You can say ‘hi’ to a guest. Aren’t you the host?”

“No,” Magnus shook his head slightly, “that would be my father, drag him. I dare you.”

Blondie glared, “Pretty.”

“Blondie,” he drawled back.

He was taking a step back as Blondie was advancing on him, but he knocked into someone behind him. There was a loud noise of a tray falling and he would have fallen too, but Blondie grabbed his arms and pulled him towards himself.

“Shit, Magnus! You okay?” Blondie asked.

He nodded before turning, arms still clasped with Blondie’s, and making sure the person he had crashed into was okay as well.

* * *

Alec was glad he ran into Underhill soon after he had arrived. He was grateful for a familiar face in this snobbish crowd. They had been greeting people and casually advertising their law firm, the reason they were here, for about an hour now.

Alec was startled when he heard a loud metallic sound. He turned to notice the commotion and cursed his luck. He had been prepared to see Magnus at the party, though he somehow didn’t prepare himself for a scenario in which his brother would there too.

He had to admit they were a sight. Magnus’s loud suit complemented Jace’s muted one.

“Isn’t that Jace?” Underhill whispered.

“Yeah,” he sighed.

The best thing about Underhill was that he didn’t ask too many questions. They had a good ‘don’t ask, I’ll tell if and when I want to’ understanding.

He wanted to go say hi to his brother but he knew it would get awkward too soon. He had avoided Jace all week, giving him work as an excuse, and he wasn’t sure that would fly right now.

He watched as Jace made sure Magnus was okay. _The guy didn’t even fall!_ Since when was his brother this sweet in a relationship?

Jace seemed to have cracked a joke because Magnus finally smiled and softly hit Jace’s arm.

“Alec?”

“Hmm?” he replied still looking at the couple.

“Edward is waving us over, want to go talk to his board members?”

Alec turned his head to look at a pale guy with red hair looking in their direction. He looked at Underhill and sighed, “Let’s get this over with.”

Underhill smirked and followed him to a group of rather dull snobs.

* * *

Magnus was giggling at Blondies’s horrible attempt at imitation of Alexander as an old lady telling kids off; that’s how his father found them.

“Let me in on the joke?” his father asked.

“Papa!” he exclaimed and walked into his father’s open arms for a hug.

Asmodeus Bane never shied away from showing his son affection in public. He said it was to send a message to people to not come after Magnus, but given what his father had told him about Lilith, it seemed to be backfiring.

“Nice to see you again, Mr. Bane,” Blondie greeted, “you look handsome.”

There goes Blondie with his foot in his mouth. Magnus pulled away from the hug and took in his father’s appearance. He was wearing a mandarin collar black blazer and black pants. Though the eye-catching detail was the dark purple East Asian dragon embroidered on the left side of the blazer. It was more of a statement than a design.

“Indeed you do, Papa,” he complimented.

“Thank you, my darlings,” his father bowed his head a little in gratitude. “You two must be the striking couple everyone is talking about.”

“We’re not a couple,” they both intoned, and his father chuckled.

“You don’t have to tell me, I already know that,” his father reassured.

“Thank you for inviting me, Mr. Bane,” Blondie said.

“You’re a friend of my son, Jace, who better to accompany him to such an event,” his father said, he then smirked and added, “Besides, I can keep him here longer if he isn’t bored out of his mind.”

“We’re bored together, papa,” he replied, knowing Blondie would never admit that in front of his father.

“You wound me, Pretty, I thought I had you laughing.”

“That was pity laugh, Blondie,” Magnus replied with an eye roll.

“I see why people might get the wrong idea,” his father smirked.

“What?” they both asked.

“Nothing,” his father replied, “So tell me, who all you two have met so far?”

* * *

Alec was making headway with Edward and his orderly group of snoots, distractedly looking in the direction of his brother and his brother’s boyfriend every few minutes. Someone mentioned his friend Lydia and for a while, he animatedly chatted about her recent victory against a big pharmaceutical company.

When he looked back at the couple, he noticed Asmodeus Bane standing with them, his arm around Magnus’ shoulders, both of them looking at Jace. Five years ago, Jace would have been a blushing mess in front of Asmodeus; today, he had the man laughing at something he said.

Leave it up to his brother to _not_ screw up the one relationship Alec wished he would.

“You want to go talk to Asmodeus?” Underhill asked. Alec looked back to notice they were the only two left.

“It’s alright, we still have some people left to greet first,” he replied, picking up a glass of wine from a nearby sommelier.

* * *

This party had turned out to be a success, and not only because the guests all seemed pleased, but also this was the first-ever business party that his son had stayed at for over two hours.

The boy, Jace, was good for Magnus. They were friends but they fought like siblings, it warmed his heart to see Magnus smile so freely. Not to mention, the boy took care of his son’s safety as well.

The party was winding down now, and at most fifty people were left. Dinner had been served, and desserts were chased after. A few couples were on the dance floor, pleasantly buzzed and sated, including Magnus and Jace.

He had spent quite a while in their company and watched them critique the food like connoisseurs while acting like little kids, he found it rather hilarious.

Asmodeus was walking along the edge of the dance floor when he noticed Alexander Lightwood looking wistfully towards someone on the floor. He had spent some time talking to the kid when he had first arrived at the party. This whole ordeal was to announce them changing law firms to Lightwood Herondale, and all their investors and major shareholders had to be made aware. He would personally be working with the kid in the future, so it was good to show they stood in good faith.

He silently walked up to Alec and stood next to him, not making his presence known. He saw Jace and Magnus in the boy’s line of sight and frowned.

“Something amiss, Mr. Lightwood?” he asked.

The boy seemed startled, “Mr. Bane, I'm sorry I didn’t realize you were there.”

_Ever the gentleman, this one._

“It was a nice party, Mr. Bane,” Alec said.

He gave a little bow in reply, “The pleasure was indeed mine.”

They both looked ahead, watching as Magnus burst into a fit of giggles, hiding them in Jace’s shoulder.

“They look like they’re having fun,” he commented, smiling.

“Yeah, they do,” the boy sighed.

_Who killed this boy’s puppy?_

“I’m glad Magnus met Jace, he seems like a nice guy. From what I’m told he is your brother?”

“Yes, he _is_ a nice guy as well as a great brother,” the boy replied, his voice determined, “I had my doubts, but now I’m sure he will keep Magnus happy.”

_‘Keep Magnus happy’?_

He smirked, turning his face to look at the boy, who was still staring at his son and his friend, “Mr. Lightwood?”

“Yes?”

“What do you think is the relationship between your brother and my son?”

He watched as the boy paled, which was a surprising feat, given his complexion.

Alec turned his head to look at him, and he noticed the boy’s slightly wide eyes, “Um, I-,” the boy paused, and avoided his eyes, “I’m sure they will tell you, Mr. Bane.”

_‘Tell him’? He already knew!_

Before he could say anything, Lightwood spoke again, “Well, it was a pleasure, Mr. Bane, I look forward to working with you,” Alec nodded, he was definitely a little drunk, “I gotta,” he pointed over his shoulder, “I gotta go, um, Underhill, he is waiting. Good night, Mr. Bane.”

He smirked and shook his head as he watched the boy rush towards his friend.

_Kids._

* * *

Jace pulled Magnus close, arms circling around his waist, as they swayed with the soft music. He knew he was grinning like an idiot, but with Magnus giggling like that, he can’t help his face.

They had met a few cuckoo characters tonight, and they didn’t feel any guilt making fun of their egoistic asses. It’s not like they’re insulting people to their faces, just the pretentious bigots.

Magnus lifted his head off his shoulder and looked at him with a gentle smile on his adorable face.

Jace noticed they were standing quite close, not surprising when you’re slow dancing with someone. It reminded him of the first time Magnus had dragged him to the dance floor and proceeded to almost fall asleep on him while standing. He smiled when he realized that even though not much time had passed since then, his friendship with Magnus had grown exponentially.

Magnus quirked an eyebrow at him, he shook his head slightly in response.

Jace looked at Magnus, admiring how beautiful he looked tonight. He had thought Magnus was always dressed for occasions, but actually seeing how he looked when dressed for an occasion, he won’t be making that mistake again.

_How can someone be the kindest soul in a bunch of snobs, while looking like they would be the king of the said bunch of snobs?_

Magnus pressed a finger to his lips, “Don’t think about it, Blondie.”

It snapped him out of a trance. He blanched when he realized he was staring at Magnus’ lips and slightly leaning towards the guy.

Magnus giggled again, and hugged him, resting his head on his shoulder.

“Sorry,” he whispered, as they continued to sway gently.

Yup, the guy is a sleepy drunk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All I can say is, everything happens for a reason.


	14. Chapter 14

Jace was lying on Magnus’ couch, dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, with his legs thrown over the back of the couch.

“Magnus! What are we going to do?” he whined.

“Would you quit obsessing over that? Put your phone down!” Magnus yelled from the kitchen. He had gone to put the leftovers from their dinner in the fridge.

He continued staring at the news article, which Izzy had sent him about an hour ago, speculating if the heir of the Bane Empire had finally taken a lover. The weird part of the article was the photo of them. It wasn’t a photo of them arriving, instead, it was them, on the dance floor, with Jace looking like he was about seconds away from smooching Magnus.

_He does remember Magnus stopping him before he ended up doing what the picture implied._

Naturally, they hadn’t talked about that, and he doesn’t see why he should bring up something he knows would be awkward.

Magnus snatched his phone from his hand. He had been too distracted to even notice him coming back from the kitchen.

“Hey!” he protested halfheartedly.

“Wonder who sold this,” Magnus said, now looking at the picture himself.

“What do you mean?” he asked, leaning on his elbow as Magnus sat down next to him.

They had been peacefully watching a movie before Jace saw the article and started freaking out. He had finally flopped down on the couch after he got tired pacing the room.

“Nothing you’ve to worry about,” Magnus reassured, handing him back his phone. “If we found out about this, I’m sure papa and Raphael would too, then they’d sue or threaten to sue them if they don’t take this down.”

“Wow, remind me not to get on your bad side,” Jace remarked, relaxing back on the couch.

“They’re just a little protective,” Magnus giggled, “I used to be a party boy, and these sites just _love_ to gossip.”

Jace hummed, already planning on finding some embarrassing stuff on Pretty.

“There’s a new episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, you want to watch?” Magnus asked.

“Do I want- Oh god, Pretty! It’s like you don’t even know me,” he exclaimed as Magnus laughed.

* * *

Jace was roused from sleep when he felt someone covering him up in a blanket. He opened his and looked up to see Pretty looming over him from behind the couch.

“Magnus?”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you,” Pretty whispered.

“It’s okay,” he removed the blanket and sat up, feeling drowsy.

“You can go to sleep, it’s alright,” Magnus said as he came around the couch.

“Yeah, I think-,” he stopped when he looked up to see Magnus standing there dressed to go out, “Where are you going?” he snapped.

“Woah, calm down,” Magnus giggled, “I’m just going downstairs.”

Jace squinted and asked, “Dressed like that?”

Magnus frowned, “What’s wrong with my clothes?” he asked looking down and fixing his vest as if it needed to be fixed.

“You’re dressed so well to collect mail?”

“Of course not,” Magnus said while rolling his eyes.

“Then?”

“I wanted a Mocha Espresso.”

“At 10:30?”

“They’re open till two,” Magnus protested.

Jace sighed, “Alright, give me ten minutes.”

“Why?”

“I’ll come with you.”

“Uh,” Magnus squinted, “I think I can get a coffee alone.”

“I’m sure you can,” Jace said, already making his way to the door.

“Then you don’t have to come along,” Magnus reasoned.

“Do you not want me there?” Jace asked, knowing Pretty would never directly say no to that.

“I didn’t say that,” Magnus said and looked apologetic.

“Alright then,” he barely hid his smirk, “give me five minutes and we’ll go.”

* * *

“-and then Ragnor took us to this hole in the wall kind of café, claiming it was amazing-“

Magnus wasn’t sure Blondie was even listening to him, because he had that fond look on his face again, the one from the party last night. He didn’t know what to make of it, but Blondie had not brought up last night, other than to crib about the picture on the article. Honestly, he doesn’t mind the picture; it’s just free advertisement till it gets taken down.

“-it wasn’t amazing,” he chuckled, “apparently he only thought so because it was-“

He paused as Blondie grabbed his outstretched arms, which he had been gesticulating with as he talked, and shifted him towards his right. One look to his left helped him realize he had been about to bang into someone else. _He really needs to stop walking backwards._ They murmured apologies to the person, who didn’t pay them much heed.

Magnus turned around and took in the almost empty café. It was a small café with a little rush during the daytime, but he rather enjoyed the night time ambiance. He used to come here earlier in the late hours, quite frequently, before Blondie moved in and effectively took up most of his time outside of work. Raphael was probably happy to not see him holed up in the office till the wee hours of the night.

“Hey, Josh,” he greeted the barista as he reached the counter, “How are you?”

“Hello, Mr. Bane, long time no see,” the kid greeted him.

Blondie stood to his left, an elbow resting at the countertop, body angled towards him.

“Could I get a cold Mocha Espresso to go, top it with a lot of whipped cream, okay?” he winked at the guy, who smiled back, well aware of his sweet tooth.

When Josh left to make his drink, he turned to look at the Blondie, who was looking all around the place, probably gauging his surroundings for any threat. Magnus had seen him do it quite a lot now, especially this past week.

“You want something?” he asked Blondie.

“Hmm,” Blondie looked back at him, “no, I’m good.”

“Okay,” he shrugged.

“So, what were you saying before you hit that guy earlier?”

“Oh, so you at least noticed I was speaking!”

“Of course,” he watched as Jace’s eyes slowly widened and his brows furrowed, “I- I was listening,” he defended.

“Sure, you were,” Magnus said, turning to accept his drink.

He thanked the barista again and turned to leave with Blondie walking after him apologizing for not paying attention, while still insisting that he was paying attention.

They were almost out of the door when he heard a little ‘excuse me’ from his left.

“Hi,” a small red-head waved at them.

“Hello to you too,” Magnus greeted the girl. He took a sip of his drink as he took in the girl’s appearance.

She looked young, probably in her early twenties. She had long fiery red hair, falling down her shoulders. Her clothes suggested she had a great fashion sense. The ripped black jeans and the pink t-shirt were casual, but they were elevated by the brown leather jacket. She was adorable, with a blush rising on her pale cheeks.

“I don’t want to seem creepy but here,” she said as she held out a folded paper, which seemed to have come out of a sketchbook, “I drew something, I wanted you guys to have it.”

He briefly glanced at Blondie, who had gone red, pretty much like the redhead's hair, and- _was he frozen?_ He is clearly not going to get anything from Blondie.

“I was actually out here to get over my art block, it’s a thing, trust me,” she giggled.

He accepted the folded piece of paper from the girl with his free hand and used the hand holding his coffee to open it up. He gaped at the art, as she kept talking.

“-and I saw you guys walk in and well you guys looked cute so I decided to draw you-”

The drawing was a pencil sketch of him and Blondie smiling at each other, their arms interlocked. _Beautiful!_ They had only been here for at most fifteen minutes, and to draw such a detailed sketch in such a short time, she had to be some kind of a genius!

“Oh my god, I sound like a creep, I promise I’m not a creep!”

Magnus giggled, remembering his, first, _technically second,_ conversation with Blondie.

“I don’t think you’re a creep, my dear,” he reassured her.

“Oh, I’m Clary, hi nice to meet you,” she said as he shook her extended hand, while holding the drawing between two fingers of the hand around the coffee cup.

“Magnus,” he introduced himself. He peeked at Blondie again, and well he was pink now.

He elbowed Blondie to bring him back to reality to shake the girl’s hand, and he muttered a curt, “Jace.”

Magnus could bet his coffee that the guy didn’t hear the girl’s name.

“Sorry, but you guys seem really familiar, I can’t remember where,” the girl said, and he frowned at the concentrated look on her face, before she gasped, “OMG! You’re the couple from the article Simon sent, about his girlfriend’s brother and his boyfriend!”

“Simons’s what’s what?” Magnus snapped.

“Simon, he said he’s dating Isabelle Lightwood.”

“Izzy’s Simon?” Blondie chimed; his brain probably registered the name of his sister.

“I’ve yet to meet her but she sounds amazing,” the girl continued.

“She is pretty amazing, and so is this artwork, Biscuit,” Magnus complimented and she beamed, “you have to tell me you do this professionally too, my dear because if you don’t I might have something for you.”

“Thank you, Magnus, and yes I am a freelance artist,” she paused before adding, “on the higher paid side of the scale, so you don’t have to worry, although I’m thankful for the offer.”

He smiled at her, but before he could say something Blondie spoke up, “We should go, Magnus, we’re running late.”

“We are?” he asked, confused.

“Yes,” Blondie glared at him, and alright looks like they were ‘running late’.

“Okay,” Magnus sighed, “it was a pleasure to meet you, dear, and thanks for the artwork.”

Before he could say anything else, Blondie took his hand and pulled him towards the door. _What’s with the rush?_

They were almost out of the door when Magnus remembered something. He tugged Jace’s hand, hard enough to make them stop, and turned around to see Biscuit was still where they’d left her standing. She frowned when she saw them turn, her smile ever-present.

“I almost forgot, we,” he gestured to him and Blondie, with the hand still holding the coffee and the drawing, “are not a couple. Hope to see you around, Biscuit.”

Blondie pulled them out of the café before the girl could reply. He dropped his hand as soon as they were out of the café, stuffing both his hands in his leather jacket.

_If Blondie manages to date Biscuit they would be the leather jacket couple. Oh, God!_

“You know you didn’t have to drag me out,” he said and took a sip of his coffee.

“Hmm?”

“You liked her,” Magnus claimed, “I could have got you her number, not that you couldn’t have done that yourself,” he giggled recalling how enchanted Blondie had been.

“I don’t want her number,” Blondie grumbled.

“Let’s face it, you should move on from my father,” Magnus teased.

It had the desired effect when Blondie laughed. Once he calmed down, he asked, “So you don’t want me as your step-dad?”

“Eww! Don’t even joke about that,” Magnus said, appalled.

“Hey, you started it.”

And he regretted it, not that he would admit.

“So, Clary?” Magnus started, now that he had Blondie’s attention.

“Drop it, Pretty, I don’t want to date,” Blondie replied with a sigh.

“Why?” Magnus almost whined, _almost_.

“Because.”

“That’s not fair,” Magnus grumbled.

Blondie smirked, and he did not like that one bit, it meant obnoxious Jace is here.

Magnus looked up from his coffee to see Blondie standing in front of him. He stopped and squinted, “What?”

“You want to get rid of me, Pretty, setting me up with other hot people?” Blondie winked.

“Yeah, that’s the only reason I want you to find love and have a happy relationship,” Magnus replied, unamused.

Blondie started walking backward, “And here I was thinking you liked hanging out with me, and you’ve been wanting to-Ouch!”

Magnus had been taking a sip of his coffee and didn’t notice the guy who had walked up behind Jace. He looked up to see Jace clutching the back of his neck.

The entrance to their building was just around the corner, quite literally. Although they had noticed the broken street lamp, behind Jace, on their way to the café, they hadn’t thought much of it. Now that he noticed a couple of guys in the shadows, it did not seem coincidental.

Magnus dropped his coffee and the art, which he had been holding when he saw Jace wobble on his spot. But before he could get to him, he felt a tiny prick on the back of his neck.

_AW FUCK!_

* * *

Clary had been out exploring the city in hopes of finding inspiration when she had stopped at the café. She was so lost in trying to sketch something that felt right, that she didn’t realize she had missed dinner. It was a text from her mom that reminded her to have dinner or at least something. _Coffee and a muffin counted as dinner, right?_

She was almost done with her coffee when she noticed the two guys who walked into the café. One of them was walking backward and would have knocked into another guy who was walking away from the counter, but then his friend literally moved him out of the way. They seemed close, and the little grateful smile the one walking backward sent his friend was exactly the kind of inspiration she had been looking for. To share it all with one fleeting look. _Damn!_

When the one who had been walking backward turned around with a flourish, she got a good enough look at him to sketch him. And wow, he had to be the prettiest guy she ever saw. She smiled as she got to work on his sketch. He had glitter highlights in his hair, and she really wished she had her colors to bring it all out on paper.

It was the guy with him that caught her attention. He had beautiful blond hair, and although he was dressed in a black leather jacket and black jeans, he still looked on par with his friend. She got a good look at him when he stood at the counter facing her. His attention though was all on his friend, and right now her attention is on the sketch.

She was done with the sketch when the barista handed the guy his drink, and she took a quick snap of the sketch on her phone, then ripped out the paper from her sketchbook and walked over to the guys.

She felt a little disappointed when she realized they were probably a couple. She metaphorically smacked herself for missing it, they had been so close the entire time they were in the café, of course, they were dating.

She felt a little confused when Magnus said they weren’t dating. Was he trying to hide it from her? Or were they actually not dating? But they had gossip articles about them? They had been holding hands as Magnus told her that they weren’t dating. Maybe they were trying to keep it quiet?

She walked back to her table and shook off the thought, she’ll talk to Simon about it, see what he thinks. She quickly finished her now cold coffee and the muffin and packed her things to head back home.

She had been looking at her phone and walking so she didn’t notice when she stepped on something. It was a cap of a coffee cup.

_Ugh! Why would someone throw coffee in the middle of the sidewalk?_

There was something else lying on the spilled coffee that caught her attention. She picked up the paper and frowned when she unfolded it. It was the sketch she’d given Magnus.

She looked up and down the sidewalk and noticed it was rather quiet here, and definitely no sign of Magnus or Jace.

She could bet on her sketchbook that Magnus wasn’t the kind of person to throw away something even a stranger did for him, and he looked like he genuinely liked the artwork.

She went with what her instincts were telling her and called her step-dad. If she’s anywhere close to being right, Magnus and Jace were probably in a lot of trouble.

“Luke? Hi!”


	15. Chapter 15

Alec pushed open the door to Luke’s office and saw him standing on the opposite side of the large mahogany desk.

“What the hell happened?” he demanded.

He had been to Luke’s office a few times in the last couple of years since he made chief. It was a big rectangular corner office and had ceiling to floor glass panels as walls, although Luke kept the blinds drawn on the two walls between the office chambers and rest of the floor. When Alec had asked about it he had said he appreciated his privacy.

There was a couch placed at the center of the wall opposite the desk, and a small coffee table was kept in front of it, which was perpetually littered with files and papers. Alec was sure most of Luke’s work was done sitting on that couch because that giant wooden desk was always too neatly arranged. The wall on the left, which had a beautiful scene overlooking the city, was symmetrically decorated with two indoor plant pots on each corner and two chests of drawers placed equidistance from the pots and each other.

“Calm down, Alec,” Luke ordered softly.

The room was somewhat right-aligned, such that a good amount of space had been left between the left wall and the desk. Alec had always wondered why it was, but as he saw Asmodeus Bane pacing in that space he realized the purpose of that space. Mr. Bane briefly glanced in his direction and they nodded their acknowledgment at each other.

Alec glared at Luke, he respected the man but does he not know that being told to calm down never helped anyone.

“What did you mean there was a code red with Jace?” Alec growled back.

“Tonight, around 11:50 pm, I received a call from my stepdaughter. She told me about two men she had met, who had introduced themselves as Magnus and Jace, and she feared something had happened to them. Her description matched Magnus and Jace’s and the street she called from was on their block. So, I sent a team to check, and we suspect they’ve been kidnapped,” Luke explained, his calm voice did nothing to soothe the panic raising in Alec’s chest.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit!”

He heard a loud sigh coming from Mr. Bane’s direction.

“It has been an hour, Luke! What took so long to call me?” Alec thundered.

“Keep your voice down, boy,” Luke said, reminding him of his manners, “I called you as soon as we had the confirmation.”

“Sorry,” Alec apologized and rubbed a palm down his face.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. Jace is home now, away from the war. _He is supposed to be safe now!_

Mr. Bane sat down on the couch, and Alec was reminded that Jace wasn’t the only person kidnapped. _SHIT!_

“Do we have any information? Any ransom calls or anything?” Alec asked, and Luke shook his head in response. “Tell me we at least have a few suspects?” Alec pleaded.

“Oh, we know who did it,” Asmodeus commented from the couch.

Alec’s head snapped in his direction, Asmodeus was sitting with his head bowed and a hand clutching his temple. When the man didn’t explain any further, Alec turned back to the Chief.

“What does he mean?” Alec asked pointing at the man, “How do we know who did it?”

Luke sighed, “We suspect it was done by Lilith, she was released from prison a few months ago.”

“Lilith?” Alec repeated in disbelief, “the madwoman whose company he destroyed five years ago,” he said pointing at Asmodeus, “and whom he exposed for running a human trafficking ring, that Lilith?”

Luke nodded.

“Fuck!” Alec exclaimed, exasperatedly as he sagged into a chair at Luke’s desk.

Alec had been going over the whole thing in his head over and over for a few minutes.

“Okay so let’s say this was to get back at you,” Alec said looking at Asmodeus, “But, why would they take Jace?”

The three men fell into a silence, each mulling over the question.

“I guess they got tired of trying to get Magnus alone and decided to take them both instead,” Asmodeus offered, probably trying hard to think like his nemesis.

“So you’re telling me,” Alec stared at the man, who, he reminded himself, must be panicking too, “my brother got _kidnapped_ because he wouldn’t leave his boyfriend alone?”

“They are not a couple,” Asmodeus waved him off.

Luke frowned at that and said, “They sure looked like one in that article my daughter sent me.”

Asmodeus’ head snapped up at that, “What article?”

“You didn’t see? Here,” Luke clicked something on his phone and then got up from where he was leaning against the desk and handed his phone to Asmodeus.

Alec knew exactly what Luke was talking about because Izzy had sent him the link. He had been relaxed on his couch at home working on a deposition when he got the notification. He regretted not putting his phone on silent before he started working, as he could not continue working with his sour mood.

“What in the name of the devil is this tomfoolery?”

Alec and Luke were both a little taken aback by Asmodeus, the man whom he never recalls so much as raising his voice, having an outburst. They both watched with wide eyes as the man pulled his phone out of his pocket click on a few things and then made a phone call, all the while murmuring curses under his breath.

“Raph, did you see the link?- Yeah, I just saw it- You have?- Sue them to the ground if they don’t comply!”

Alec raised an eyebrow at that because he was pretty sure that’s his job now.

Asmodeus met his eyes before continuing on the phone, “He’s right here- Jace was kidnapped too- Yeah okay.”

Asmodeus put his phone back in his pocket and gave Luke his phone back, before sagging back into the couch; Alec was feeling drained too.

* * *

An hour had passed by, as they waited for Luke’s detectives to come up with any news of the missing couple. Alec was still sitting on a chair across from Luke, who was ‘doing paperwork’ on his desktop, and Asmodeus hadn’t moved from the couch either.

Alec was close to nodding off in the chair-

_Don’t blame him, it was two am!_

-when Raphael burst into the office.

“Papa!” he rushed towards Asmodeus, who stood up and hugged the little guy, “Shit! I came as soon as I could. I asked around everywhere for any information on that vile woman. Don’t worry, we’ll find Magnus. They are both going to be okay.”

Alec was trying really hard to recall if Asmodeus had any other children, although he was pretty sure Magnus was supposed to be an only child. He watched as Asmodeus patted Raphael’s shoulders and let the guy reassure him, even though he could tell the man’s worries wouldn’t be embalmed till he had his son in front of him. Raphael left Asmodeus’s side and came over to Luke’s desk, and handed the man a small piece of paper he had pulled out of his blazer pocket.

“You need to send your men to raid these places, and tell them to be on the lookout for Magnus and Jace.”

Alec and Asmodeus both let out a relieved sigh, finally, they were making headway.

Raphael went and sat down next to Asmodeus on the couch and Luke got busy in making calls.

* * *

They had all been nervously waiting for half an hour now. One of the three teams that Luke had dispatched to the three addresses had just called in to report they had a huge drug bust, but no hostages had been found.

Alec had been listening in on Asmodeus and Raphael whispering on the couch as they devised a plan in case the news breaks out in the media. He was shaken out of his focus on the two men when his phone started ringing. He picked up the call when he saw it was Izzy.

“Iz, hey,” Alec answered.

_“Alec, oh thank the angel, you’re okay!”_

“Yeah, I’m fine, what happened?”

_“What happened?”_

Alec had to pull the phone away to escape his sister’s yelling.

_“What happened is I came back from Simon’s to find the apartment empty and your files are strewn around. Where the heck are you? And young man, you should know to at least text me before disappearing! Don’t make me call mom on you,” Izzy threatened._

Alec brought the phone back to his ear, once his sister was done scolding him, and gently replied, “I’m fine, Iz, I thought you would be sleeping.”

_“Well I’m not sleeping now, so where are you?”_

Alec pondered whether he should tell her or not.

_“Are you at Jace’s, I tried calling him too, can you smack his head and tell him he should know better than to turn his phone off.”_

Alec could feel his eyes burning, he would love to be able to smack Jace’s head and tell him not to get into unnecessary trouble.

“Don’t lie to her,” Raphael said, and Alec turned his head to stare at the guy. There was no annoyance or judgment in them, just a simple answer to the internal debate he was having right now. He nodded slightly at the man.

_“Who was that? Oh my god, Alec! Are you out on a booty call?”_

He chose to rip off the band-aid, “Izzy, Jace and Magnus have been kidnapped.”

* * *

It took his sister a record fifteen minutes to get to Luke’s office. She barged in, in her high heels, looking very much like the fierce prosecutor that she was. Her gaze softened as soon as her eyes fell on Alec, and he was out of his seat and in her outstretched arm before she could even ask.

“We’re going to be fine, Alec,” she assured him as they pulled away from the hug, she looked into his eyes with an unshakeable belief shining in hers as she said, “Jace is going to be fine, okay?”

He nodded, drawing the strength to fight the catastrophic thoughts, plaguing his mind, from her.

She then turned her glare at Luke, and Alec would have chuckled at the man shifting gear from laid back to professional if they hadn’t been in such dire circumstances.

“Tell me everything that has happened so far, and I need the details with the time stamp,” she ordered.

* * *

The other two warehouses had been a bust too, though the narcotics department was having a field day.

Somewhere in the last two hours, since Izzy had arrived at the office, they had switched positions with Asmodeus and Raphael, who were slouched in the chairs opposite Luke, and Izzy had just nodded off with her head on his shoulder as they were sat on the small couch.

He looked up when Luke sighed loudly.

“Look, this office is getting cluttered. There is a break room just down the corridor with a couple of big couches, why don’t you guys head down there and I will call you as soon as we have any news?”

Had it not been for Izzy’s head on his shoulder, Alec would have exploded at the suggestion that he rest while his brother was probably de- _don’t go there, Alec!_

“Look, Lucian,” thank the angel that Asmodeus Bane had no such obligations, “my son’s life is at stake here. How about you spend all your available resources into finding him and his friend, _alive_ , or I swear on the devil, it would not take me long to run this city to the ground,” the man was the embodiment of the calm before the storm.

Alec is sure had it been anyone else, they would be bending over backward to please the billionaire, but Luke lived by a different set of rules.

“Mr. Bane,” Luke started calmly, “I understand where you are coming from, so I would look over the threat,” he paused, “but I need you to realize that I am doing you a favor here. No other agency would listen to you before it has been forty-eight hours, and that is long enough time for Lilith to shift them to the Middle East for all we know.”

Now a different kind of fear gripped Alec, he trusted Jace to be a survivor, but he did not wish for his brother, or even Magnus, to live through such hardships as Luke suggested.

“But, I care for both the boys personally, and we understand the gravity of the situation, which is why I have my best detectives working on the case. We will find them,” Luke reassured them all.

Asmodeus might have continued to argue, but Izzy got up from beside him, went to the man, and tapped on his shoulders.

“Mr. Bane?” she asked softly.

“Yes, dear?” the man sighed.

“Come on, Magnus wouldn’t want you to torture yourself like that in these _disgrace of a chair_ ,” she asked, imitating Magnus to express the dislike for the uncomfortable chairs.

Asmodeus smirked wistfully and got up from the chair, “Only because you asked so nicely.”

Izzy left with Asmodeus, and once they were out, the three men in the room deflated, suddenly crushed by the weight of the consequences of them being too late to rescue the couple.

* * *

It was now six-thirty in the morning. His brother and his brother’s boyfriend had been missing for more than six hours now and were probably in the hands of an unhinged woman who was seeking vengeance on his brother’s boyfriend’s father.

Though Alec and Raphael were currently sitting in the office of the chief, sipping on the coffee his sister had brought for them. _Bless her._

A couple of minutes later, a small redhead walked into the office. She was clad in a denim jacket and ripped jeans, along with sneakers. Luke’s face lit up when he saw her. He and Raphael exchanged a questioning glance and shrugged at each other when they realized that neither of them knew about the girl.

“Clary?”

This must be the stepdaughter, Alec thought.

“Hi, good morning,” the redhead, Clary, said as she hugged Luke.

“What are you doing here?” the man asked.

“Did you guys find out anything about Jace and Magnus?” she asked.

“Not yet,” Luke informed her regretfully.

“Oh!” he couldn’t see her but he saw her head bow, and somehow that made stirred the panic brewing inside him a little more.

“Hey, kiddo, we’ll find them, okay? They’re going to be fine,” Luke not only consoled his daughter, but also the two men in the room.

“Clary, this is Jace’s brother, Alec,” Luke introduced the girl, who waved at him and he waved back with what little energy he could muster, “and this is Magnus’ friend, Raphael.”

Raphael didn’t even bother to wave, just arched an eyebrow at her, and returned back to his phone, feigning disinterest.

* * *

Two NYPD detectives, whom Luke claimed to be their best bets, were currently debriefing them on the details of their investigations and everything they had found out since the crime was reported, which was a whole lot of ‘we did everything we could but found nothing’ gibberish.

Alec was standing beside Izzy, who was sitting next to Clary, on the couch in Luke’s office. Asmodeus was stood on the other side of Clary, who had offered her seat to the man but he had waved it off saying he was older but not _that_ old. Raphael, who was leaning on the chest of drawers next to the man, had rolled his eyes so far back at Asmodeus’ words that Alec feared he had found his rival in the eye-rolling.

The female detective, Twyla Sands, was the lead on the investigation and she had just told them that they had no idea which direction the kidnappers had taken off in, apparently, every single camera in the area had gone down at the time of the crime, and the cyber department was currently tracking that lead.

The other detective, an African-American man named Frank Hugo, was now going into the details of all the places they had busted and the few criminals they had caught, and their ongoing interrogation of to find out about any other hideouts Lilith might be using. But it looks like none of the seven criminals was talking yet.

“Give me some good news,” Luke let out an exasperated sigh.

“Sorry, Chief, nothing is looking up so far,” said the lead detective.

“Let’s just hope we find the gorgeous couple in time,” Frank murmured, but in the quiet room, he was loud enough.

“Frank!” Twyla chastised her partner, who frowned at her before his eyes widened as he looked around at everyone else in the room.

“Mr. Bane, don’t mind that, you know we are doing everything we can,” Luke tried to assuage the man’s anger.

“You better be doing everything to find my boy,” Alec cleared his throat, and Asmodeus briefly glanced at him before continuing, “and his dear friend, whom every goddamned person keep’s assuming to be his boyfriend.”

The man’s rant was met with the collective furrowing of eyebrows from everyone in the room except, Raphael.

Luke dismissed the two detectives, who left instantaneously.

“Why are you so sure that they’re not dating?” Alec let his curiosity get the better of him.

Asmodeus frowned at him, “because they are not dating?”

“Maybe they haven’t told you that they are,” Alec knew this wasn’t his place, but he hasn’t slept all night and he is running on too much caffeine.

Asmodeus scoffed, but it was Raphael who spoke, “We would know if Magnus was dating anyone, trust me.”

Alec noticed Luke and the girls look away at what that insinuated, _did these two have Magnus under some kind of surveillance?_

“Do either of you realize you’re,” Alec looked for an innocent way of putting it, “ _too protective_ of Magnus?”

Raphael glared daggers at him, “So is your brother,” he seethed, “Magnus has that effect on people,” he paused, “people who don’t tell him to stay away from them.”

Alec looked down, thoroughly discomforted. He had been so sure when he had said that to Magnus that he was doing the right thing. But hearing the contempt in Raphael's voice made him doubt everything.

_Were Magnus and Jace really not a couple?_

Alec caught Izzy’s questioning glare, and well, maybe he should really talk to someone about this whole confusion.

_After they rescue his brother and Magnus, of course!_

“Is he the reason Magnus has been so upset lately?”

Alec looked up to see Asmodeus pointing at him while looking at Raphael, who nodded.

“Can I fire him?”

Alec gulped, _shit!_

Raphael rolled his eyes at his boss, “Come on, old man, personal and professional!”

Alec sighed and thanked the angel that he wasn’t about to incur his firm a huge loss.

* * *

The clock was ticking and Alec couldn’t get the thought of Lilith having shipped Magnus and Jace, to some war struck country where their screams would fall on deaf ears and there would be no US embassy for miles to safely bring them back, out of his head.

Asmodeus Bane was back to pacing in Luke’s office.

Luke was busy pouring through the report the detectives had brought a couple of hours ago.

Raphael and Izzy were discussing how they were going to prosecute once they caught Lilith.

Clary was sitting next to him on the couch, chewing on her nails and looking pensively at the beautiful sketch Magnus and Jace she had just finished drawing.

Alec was staring vacantly outside the wall behind Luke’s chair, thinking about how he would tell his mother that Jace was missing, about how Max was going to visit them in a week, about all the plans they had made for their youngest brother who was finally getting a break from school, and about how he was going to tell his dad that he couldn’t take care of his siblings.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We find out what happened to Jace and Magnus.
> 
> (do check the tags before proceeding.)

Jace felt like his head was exploding.

Last night was probably a banger if the hangover is this awful. He groaned and tried to open his eyes with far too much difficulty.

_This was not his room! Or even Magnus’!_

He blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted to the light in the room. He took a deep breath, _don’t panic Jace!_

He seemed to have woken up in a dungeon, although he doesn’t remember picking up any kinky hook up last night. Jace was on the floor, leaning against a wall, with his legs stretched out in front of him. He looked around the room, but his eyes were barely in focus. The walls of the dungeon were bare, but in the artistic kind of way and not in the ‘don’t want to invest in cement’ kind of way. There was a wooden sliding door at the center of the wall to his right. The sound of water dripping from the other side of the room attracted his attention.

_UGH!_

He shouldn’t have turned his head so quickly. He noticed the lone sink on the wall opposite to the door. There were two high windows with translucent glass on either side of the sink. He turned a little and noticed the similar windows on the wall in front of him. He felt his eyelids drooping, _maybe he should sleep some more?_

The world started to blur, not that it was clear in the first place. He thought he saw a silhouette of a man in front of him, but Jace let sleep pull him under.

* * *

Jace woke up suddenly, gasping for air. He jerked up from where he was lying. The clanking of chains as he got up made him aware of the weight around his wrists, and a cold shiver crawling down his spine at the sight of the rusty shackles around them. His eyes followed the chain extensions on the shackles, only to find them bolted to the floor on either side. He wrapped his hands around the thick industrial chains and tugged at them.

A few minutes went by, and he finally gave up on the chains, they hadn’t even budged a millimeter. Jace sagged against the wall, relaxing his arms, with his head leaning against the wall behind him, he stared at the ceiling. His limbs felt heavy, and whatever little strength he had, he had just used up in the futile attempt to pull the chains out of the floor. _These things look deceptively rusted, okay!_

The mild headache he had woken up with was slowly aggravating. Jace took a deep inhale-

“Uggh”

He sat up straight at the groan, the breath gushing out of him as he stared in shock.

_NO! NO! NO! NO!_

“Magnus!” Jace cried as he crawled towards the guy.

Magnus was strapped into a chair, his limbs duct-taped to the limbs of the chair. Jace could only reach so far before the chains halted him, and he groaned as he tried to pull them out again.

“Magnus! Magnus, baby, wake up!” he called again.

Magnus stirred in response, his face scrunching, the same way it does whenever you try to wake him.

“MAGNUS!” Jace yelled to wake him up. He stretched his legs in front of him, slowly shifting forward, till he could nudge Magnus with his foot.

Pretty murmured something, which he guessed to be along the lines of, ‘go away, Blondie’.

“Magnus? Now’s not the time, baby!” he pleaded.

The nudging got stronger as the memories of last night slowly flashed in his head. The article; the café; the girl; the banter; the sting; the shadow behind Pretty; the world turning dark in an already dimly lit sidewalk. The last memory made him smash his boot to Magnus’ shin as hard as he could.

“OWW!” Magnus woke up screaming.

Jace sighed before he glared at Pretty and said, “Finally, sleeping beauty!”

Magnus stared at him in anger, probably at being woken up so rudely, but a few moments later the anger started to morph into confusion and then to fear.

“Why the fuck are you chained to the floor like an _animal_?”

“Why the fuck are _you_ strapped into a chair like a criminal?”

“I am wh-,” Magnus’ words died as he looked down and saw the binds on his hands and legs.

“They took away my necklaces and rings!” Magnus growled, and Jace stared at him, utterly confused.

Magnus tested the binds, yanking them in every which way to see if they would budge.

“Awh! They put duct tape around my shirt,” Magnus said, still accessing the tape around his hands, he looked up at Jace before whining, “It’s going to cause a rip later.”

“Magnus!” Jace lashed out, “I don’t care about your shirt right now! We’re trapped here, in case you didn’t notice.”

“Oh, I did notice,” Magnus replied calmly, tugging at his binds again, just to demonstrate his point.

“Then get serious!”

“What do you want me to do?” Magnus asked, his voice cracking slightly, “Think about how I’m definitely going to be tortured, and how you are going to be made to watch?”

Jace’s anger went up in smokes, and he metaphorically smacked himself.

“It- It won’t happen!” Jace tried, hating how fake his assurance sounded, Magnus quirked an eyebrow at him as if to say _really?_

“ _I won’t let it!_ ” Jace vowed.

“Blondie,” Magnus sighed.

The lone bulb dangling from the ceiling made Magnus’ teary eyes twinkle, but Jace hated him at that moment, hated him because he knew Magnus was right. He could only hope that whoever wanted to hurt them won’t show up soon.

“How long do you think we’ve been here?” Magnus asked, after a few minutes of looking around.

Jace instinctively looked towards the top of the wall on his left. He spotted a high window there, confirming they were in a basement somewhere and that it was daylight outside, the translucent glass panes still let some light filter in through them.

“A few hours, more than ten, I’d guess, given they drugged us,” Jace replied. He frowned as an awful thought started taking shape in his mind. He turned to look at Magnus, already dreading his reply, “they drugged you too, didn’t they? They didn’t- you didn’t- you weren’t-“

“Shhh! Yes, seconds after you, and no I didn’t wake up in between,” Magnus smiled, though it quickly transformed into a scowl as he continued, “and the only pain I feel, is in my shin because _you_ kicked me!”

Jace sagged back against the wall, slightly relieved, then grinned up at Magnus, “I have you all tied up and I can’t even do anything,” he pouted.

Magnus laughed, which made Jace feel better in return, “How did you guess my kink?”

Jace’s eyes widened, “Wait! Really?”

Magnus giggled. Their eyes met, and for a second they could imagine they were relaxing in either of their homes, not strapped in a dungeon somewhere.

“So, who do you think took us?” Magnus mused after a while.

“Someone who’s into bondage,” Jace shrugged.

“That doesn’t narrow it down, at all.”

Jace eyed him, “how many people do you know with a bondage kink?”

“Kink shaming, Blondie?” Magnus said shaking his head, “I expected better from you.”

“Magnus,” Jace drawled.

Magnus groaned, “Why did you have to learn that from Papa?”

“Learn what?”

“Saying my name like that,” Magnus accused, “I’m not your bratty little kid.”

“Well,” Jace smirked, “if I was your step-dad, then…”

“FUCK YOU!” Magnus shouted, “I hate you, Blondie!”

Jace laughed, as Magnus continued screaming curses at him.

“Am I interrupting something?”

Jace and Magnus paused and turned to look towards the door, which was now open and a tall and slender woman was standing in the doorway. She reminded Jace of Morticia Addam, with her skeletal face and blood-red lips, framed by long black hair. She was dressed in a glittering silver and black dress, and if Jace didn’t have an inkling that this was the woman Asmodeus had warned him about, he might have thought of her as attractive.

“Don’t stop on my account,” she said in a sickeningly sweet voice as she walked into the room. “It sounded like you were having fun.”

Jace glared daggers at her, wrapping the chains around his arms to again pull at them.

“Cute,” she said, smiling at him as one would smile at a child. She turned to look down at Magnus, and greeted, “Hello, you.”

Honestly, Jace had expected Magnus to be tearing up right about now-

_Don’t blame him, okay? The guy cried watching The Dark Knight Rises, because ‘Gotham did not deserve Batman, Blondie.’_

It’s hard to imagine the Magnus he had spent all that time around to ever be mad at anything, he had seen him irritated, and well his gut still remembers the punch, but to see Magnus seething in fury as he looked up at the woman, his jaw gnashing, and the eyes that, not too long ago, had been sparkling with pity, were now glinting a different kind of rage. Jace had missed the moment when Magnus had transformed from a kitten to a lion, and he couldn’t help but smirk a little.

“Not much of a talker, hmm?” Lilith didn’t seem fazed by Magnus’ glare. “This is going to be fun,” she said as she walked up to the racks against the wall behind Magnus’ chair.

“ _We are fucked!”_ Magnus mouthed at Jace.

“ _I know!”_ Jace answered.

Before Jace could offer some reassurance, he saw the woman’s frustratingly amused face above Magnus’s head, as she moved up behind him. She brought her arms to rest around his chest. Her black and silver sleeved arms resting on Magnus’ shiny blue silk shirt. Jace was truly appalled by the sight, though it probably had to do with the triple edged dagger in her hands. Jace felt helpless, but he tried to keep it out of his face. Magnus, on the other hand, had closed his eyes, the clenching and unclenching of his jaw was the only inclination to how he might be feeling.

“Quite difficult to catch this little one here,” she said to Jace, tapping the dagger at Magnus’ chest.

Jace stared back at her, if she was trying to intimidate him, it won't- _okay fine it was working but only because it was Magnus at the end of the blade-_ he wasn’t going to let it show on his face. She slowly popped the buttons on Magnus’ shirt.

She bent, putting her face next to Magnus. Though she was looking at Jace, it was clear she was talking to Magnus, “I spent months to get you here.”

“An appointment with me is not that expensive,” Magnus quipped.

She scoffed, “Oh, you’ve been very expensive for me, dear.” She came around from behind Magnus to stand to his side, continuing only after Magnus gave in and looked at her, “The four failed attempts to get you, cost me many men,” she folded her arms on her chest, gesticulating with the hand holding the knife, “expendable, still a cost,” she added as an after-thought.

“You need better men,” Jace said and then shook his head at himself. Now was not the time to advertise his company.

“Oh, definitely, if this past week is anything to go by, the men in your company would certainly be a better investment,” she said.

Jace’s eyes widened slightly at the implication, and his eyes involuntarily shifted to Magnus, whose head snapped up to stare back at him.

“You’ve been so religious in your work, even I wondered how much Asmodeus was paying you,” the glee she was getting out of this was evident in her face.

The rage that had been there on Magnus’ face gave way to betrayal, and Jace shook his head at him, trying desperately to convey that that wasn’t the case.

“I would have wasted more time getting him,” she continued, unbothered by her audience, “if it hadn’t been for that article. I thought, why to take one if I could get two and have my fun with them.”

She traced the dagger along Magnus’ face and neck, his face scrunched and he tilted away from the knife, but actually offered his neck to her in doing so; and fuck Jace’s nerves were rising by the second. She rested the tip of the daggers on Magnus’ throat and pushed with a finger, Magnus hissed as it broke the skin.

“Wh- What do you mean?” Jace asked, ‘ _keep the perpetrator talking_ ’.

She looked at him, taking the knife off of Magnus, “You know, Magnus Bane, the actual toy, and his boy-toy,” she pointed the knife towards Jace, “the happy meal toy.”

Magnus snickered and Jace glared at him for a second before turning back to the woman, “What,” he took a deep breath, wondering if he should ask the obvious, and exhaled, “what do you want with us, Lady?”

“Lilith,” she offered, and continued as she walked to the other side of Magnus, “I want to have fun with you boys, of course.”

Jace shook his head, “I don’t think our definitions of 'fun' match.”

“That,” she whirled, “is precisely the fun.”

_Oh, man!_

“Also it sends Asmodeus a message,” she added. She was assessing Magnus the same way a doctor would look at a patient to decide where to put the cuts.

They got no warning before she swiftly moved and put a long cut close to Magnus’ right pec. Though Magnus barely made a sound, Jace yelled curses, the chains around his arms rattled as he tugged incessantly at them.

“Like I said, _fun._ ”

After a couple more cuts and a lot more screaming from Jace, she paused. She went up to the rack, the metal clanked as she threw the dagger. Jace tried to get Magnus to look at him but his eyes were closed. After a few minutes, she came to stand on the other side of Magnus. This time a small knife, with a board quillon, was her weapon of choice.

“What is wrong with you, lady?” Jace yelled.

Magnus was breathing shallowly, his fists clenched around the arms of the chair.

“Wrong with me?” she frowned,

“Your beef is with Asmodeus,” Jace pointed out, and proceeded to yell, “TAKE IT UP WITH HIM!”

She laughed, making Jace groan, _ugh, fucking psychopaths!_

“This is me taking it up with him, every nick and cut I put on his little boy,” she pointed at Magnus with the dagger, “is going to haunt Asmodeus forever.”

“Oh, admit it,” Jace seethed, “all your money and your goons can’t touch the man, so you decided to go after the next best thing.”

For the first time, since she had entered the room, her face displayed an emotion other than those evil little smiles. She spun the knife on her palm, grabbed the hilt, and plunged it into Magnus’ thigh. Magnus only let out a silent scream and pressed his lips shut before she could notice.

“You might want to watch your words,” she warned, pulling the knife out; the smile was back on her face.

“It really is more fun, with an audience,” she said, circling around Magnus’ chair while her eyes remained on Jace.

“Didn’t take you for an exhibitionist,” Jace retorted, making her chuckle.

“I can see why you would date him,” she said to Magnus.

Jace leaned back against the wall, and sighed, “not you too!”

“’not me too’ what?”

“We are not dating!”

She squinted at him, “Really?”

Jace noticed the slight shaking of Magnus's head, he frowned, but continued, “Really! We are not dating.”

“Huh! That makes having you here incredibly useless,” she tilted her head, glaring at him, “I do not like useless things.”

Jace’s eyes widened and he noticed Magnus let his head drop, “I am not completely useless,” he offered.

“How so?” she asked taking a couple of steps towards him, “and I don’t have any use of a bodyguard.”

“I’m not his bodyguard,” Jace protested, and Magnus looked up at him and frowned. He tried to sound as honest as he could and pleaded, “I really am not.”

Magnus’ frown smoothed a little, though he didn’t seem ready to believe Jace.

“I don’t buy it,” Lilith declared.

Jace gave her a confounded look, “ _what’s there to not buy_?” he asked.

“You’re either his bodyguard, or his boyfriend,” she said, and then like an impatient child she added, “you can’t be neither!”

“Why, Lady?”

“I’ve been watching him,” she brandished the knife in front of his face, “take just this last week, for example, who the heck picks up someone from work, _every day_ if they’re not the boyfriend or the bodyguard?”

Jace backed away from her, as she yelled and looked at Magnus, who seemed to be in agreement with her.

“I- I was-“

“You’re making a weak case,” she declared.

“I haven’t even made my case yet!” Jace said as she walked back to stand next to Magnus. “I was being a good friend,” he managed, “friends pick each other up from work all the time?”

They both shook their heads at him.

“What if your friend’s parent asks you to look out for them?” he tried.

“Bodyguard,” Lilith declared, “called it.”

Magnus’ looked away, tears shining in his eyes.

“How much did he pay you?” she asked.

“Nothing!” Jace protested, and he tried to get close to Magnus on his knees, the chains pulling his hands back. “Magnus, baby, please! I’m not,” he paused and saw Lilith watching them, “can you look away, woman?” He turned back to Magnus and continued, “Papa’s not paying me. I swear on…Chairman.”

“Don’t,” Magnus warned, his voice was steady but Jace knew he was close to breaking down, “do not use Chairman like that. You don’t even like him.”

“Yeah, but I know how much you love him!”

“Ugh,” Lilith groaned, “and now you want me to believe you are not boyfriends.”

“WE ARE NOT!” Jace shouted and regretted doing so the second it left his mouth.

Lilith balked, slowly a smirk formed on her face before she slashed the knife against Magnus’ bicep. The shirt gave in and Magnus scrunched his eyes to contain the pain.

“Okay. I get your point, you don’t have to, please just stop,” Jace pleaded.

“Then tell me,” she asked, “boyfriends or not?”

Jace stared at Magnus before he finally managed, a small tentative, “best friends?” He said, more to Magnus than to her.

Magnus glanced at him, and Jace looked at him, feeling vulnerable, more than he did when he had woken up in chains. They had never talked about what they were; they just clung to each other, like magnets to a fridge door.

Magnus looked at him, his face showed hurt, from more than the physical wounds he carried, but he gave Jace a barely-there nod, making him grin.

“Best friends, lady! We’re best friends!” Jace announced.

“Oh god, the drama,” she lamented and Jace glared at her. “Date him, already,” she suggested.

“NO!”

“Why not?”

“This is too elaborate a plan to set someone up, if that’s what you’re trying to do, lady.”

She circled Magnus and observed the guy with keen eyes, “He is quite attractive. I don’t know why you would object?”

Jace had no clue how to respond to that, she spun around to look at him again.

“I remember the photo, and _you_ looked like you wanted to kiss him,” she accused.

_Okay, this is officially his worst nightmare, and he has been to war._

Jace pressed his lips in a thin line, thinking about how to reply to that. He avoided looking at them, he and Magnus hadn’t talked about this either, but he has no idea how long he’d need to keep her talking. He opened his mouth to speak, before he paused, not knowing what to say.

He felt a sharp sting under his chin. He looked up and Lilith looming over him, she had used the knife under his chin to get his attention.

“You didn’t answer,” she said.

“I-I was drunk?” Jace offered.

“Drunk action, sober thoughts,” she countered.

“I mean, he is…attractive?” Jace said and shrugged, “and he was there…and I might have been a teeny tiny bit horny…and well...he was…giggling?”

Right then, as if to demonstrate, Magnus giggled. Though they heard the giggle, when they looked at the guy he was staring back straight-faced. Jace smiled.

Lilith turned her attention back to Jace, pressing the knife deeper, “So, you do want to sleep with him, but not date him, hmmm.”

Jace suddenly felt his anger bubbling up and rising in his throat before he could put a lid on it he ended up saying, “Honestly, lady, I don’t know what you’re getting out of this, I mean, really? Why the fuck, should I even tell you?”

Lilith gave him a disappointed sigh before she walked away from him, and went to stand behind Magnus.

“Okay, I get your point, I’ll talk. Please, just step away from him?” Jace requested, his arms still pulling at the chains, you’d think by now he would realize he’s not Hulk.

“You see, ‘Jace’ was it?” he nodded, and she continued, “You talking, is mildly entertaining to me, while this” she traced the knife down Magnus’ throat down to his chest, applying little pressure now and again, and leaving gashes its wake, “this is extremely entertaining.” A wicked grin formed on her face before she added, “It’s up to you, either you can entertain me, or I entertain myself.”

“You-,” Jace would have hurled all sorts of curses at her, but the knife pressing against Magnus’ skin made him cede, “I’ll talk, whatever you want to listen, I’d tell you. But don’t hurt him, okay?”

Her wicked grin got a dash more wicked, he didn’t think it was even possible, and she said, “Just one nick? You know, for not distracting me well enough?” And by a small nick, she meant the large gash that she put along Magnus’ sternum.

Magnus, who hadn’t made a lick of sound so far, at being physically hurt, groaned in pain.

“Oh god! Stop!” Jace yelled, “yes! Okay! I did want to sleep with him, that’s how we met,” he paused to take a breath, glad that she had stepped away from Magnus. “He’s so pretty, who wouldn’t want to sleep with him. But I don’t want to now, okay?”

She hummed and then gestured with the knife for him to continue.

“We’ve snot cried together, okay? At animal kingdom documentaries! It changes things, okay?” he asserted.

Jace looked at Magnus, feeling all the frustration drain out of him at the vulnerable look on his cute face, he continued softly, talking to Magnus this time, “He’s looking for someone to fall in love with, and I-I love him,” Magnus’ jaw dropped open, Jace grinned, “I love him, but I’m not _in love_ with him. He’s too annoying for that,” he teased.

Magnus’ eyelids were drooping, every blink longer than the previous, but he managed to give Jace an adoring smile, accompanied by a slight shake of his head.

“Wow,” her stare tossing from one face to the other, “that was,” she paused, twirling her knife as if looking for the right word, and said, “dramatic.”

“Lady, you _really_ don’t get to call us dramatic.”

Before Lilith could say anything, a knock sounded at the door. Lilith groaned but went outside, Jace tried to get a glimpse of outside, but Lilith was too quick to close the door behind her.

“Magnus? Hey, baby, you okay?”

Magnus groaned, “Do I look okay, Blondie?”

“No you don’t,” Jace said, apologetically.

“It’s not your fault,” Magnus shook his head, his voice strained.

“How is it not? I should have protected you better!” Jace replied.

“It’s-,” Magnus was interrupted by Lilith walking back into the room.

“Chatting, boys?” she asked, but didn’t wait for a reply before she said, “I’m afraid, I’ve been called away.”

She clinically drove the knife she had been holding into Magnus’ shoulder, making him scream at the sudden attack.

She came around, after putting the knife away, and bent to be at eye level with Magnus, who was breathing heavily. She turned his face to look at him, using a finger instead of a knife this time.

“I will be back soon,” she said in a way a mother would reassure a child. Jace doubted whether she had a maternal bone in her body.

“Miss me, boys,” she said as she shut the door on them.

Magnus had his head tilted back and was panting heavily.

“Holy shit, Magnus! Talk to me!”

He looked back at Jace and breathed out, “I don’t want to talk.”

“But you- you need to talk! You’ll be okay! Okay?” Jace tried to reassure him, “Just keep breathing normally, alright? You don’t have to panic!”

“Blondie,” Magnus called and Jace hummed, “you are panicking,” he said in a calm tone.

“I-,” Jace shook his head because that was ridiculous, _why would he be panicking?_

Now that he was looking for it, he noticed his own shallow breathing and the shiver in his clammy hands. _Of course, he was panicking!_

“Oh, fuck!” Jace groaned.

“Come on, breath with me, Jace,” Magnus tried, but Jace was too far gone.

“Where the heck is Maia?”


	17. Chapter 17

Alec was startled out of the hopeless pit, that his mind had spiraled off into when he heard a clank resound from somewhere on his right.

Maryse Lightwood was a feared lawyer, and for years nobody has dared to challenge her position, be it in the firm or in any other venture she undertook. Alec had always admired her for the strength she exuded, except when as a child he or his siblings did some blunder and they would fear her eyes giving him the loathsome look she had long patented.

Presently, it was Maryse who had thrown open the door to Luke’s office. She was looking at him like she wished to disintegrate his existence if she could. Although his mother had reassured him multiple times that she would never hate him, childhood fears are long-lasting.

_“MY SON HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED AND YOU DIDN’T THINK TO CALL ME?”_

Alec gulped. He had been so consumed with his worries and emotional turmoil that he had forgotten to inform his mother. If he was to be truthful, he dreaded to inform her. He had hoped that they would find Jace by now and he won’t have to call her. One would think to have the chief of police personally involved would make things smoother and faster, but _no!_

Alec found his nervousness reflected back at him in Izzy’s eyes.

“Mom?”

“Ma,” he called at the same time as Izzy.

Maryse Lightwood regarded them both with a cold stare, that he has had the misfortune of receiving a few times in his life. Her voice was boardroom cold when she said, “I will deal with the two of you later.”

“Maryse,” Luke’s voice drew her attention away from them.

“Tell me what happened,” she ordered.

“Please, take a seat,” Luke requested. Alec was always baffled by how calm he managed to be, nevermind the situation.

Asmodeus had stopped pacing and was observing the new company in the room. Raphael left his chair at Luke’s desk and walked over to stand next to the man. Meanwhile, Izzy was standing behind the chair, which she was sat in not two minutes ago, but was now occupied by their mom.

The sinking feeling in Alec’s gut was renewed as he watched his usually stoic mother’s face reflect every emotion, from worry to dread to fear, as Luke narrated the events since the kidnapping.

“How could have this happened?” his mother said, her voice so soft it felt more like a question she was asking herself. She continued in a firmer, yet concerned, voice, “If- If you knew of the danger they were in, why weren’t they under protection while you handled the threat?”

“There was no formal action we could take, and there was no proof of any malicious activities around the boys, Maryse,” Luke replied.

“What about the attack you mentioned?” Maryse’s eyes drifted towards Asmodeus for a second before returning to Luke, “you said Magnus had been attacked a couple of times?”

“We couldn’t _officially_ trace their connections back to Lilith,” Raphael answered.

Maryse held Raphael’s gaze as the meaning of what he had said settled heavily in the room. _They had tortured the information out of the thugs._

“But you could have-,” Maryse started her argument but was interrupted.

“Your son _was_ the protection we hired,” Raphael answered before she could even phrase the question.

Asmodeus sighed and rolled his eyes a little before he went and sat down on the chair next to Maryse’s, facing her. Asmodeus reached out and took his mother’s hands in his, and gave her a tender look before saying, “Mrs. Lightwood?”

“Miss, divorced, but call me Maryse,” his mother replied mechanically.

“Maryse?” his mother gave a curt nod. Asmodeus’ voice was silk as he continued, “I need you to believe in Magnus and Jace. I need you to believe that they are going to be okay. Can you do that for me?”

Maryse nodded, as a tear rolled down her cheek.

“And I need you to think of when we have them back safe how we are going to annihilate whoever dared touch them, hmm?” Asmodeus said with a smirk.

Maryse giggled in between a sniffle, taking a hand back from Asmodeus to wipe her tear.

He snapped his mouth shut from where it had dropped open, and looked at his sister, who stared back at him, her eyes wide in question. He gave her a shrug.

Raphael was leaning against a glass wall, a hint of a smirk on his face, he looked too smug. Alec looked at Clary and saw she had her lips pressed in a line to hide her smile.

Alec stared, bewildered.

_That was fucking smooth!_

* * *

Alec backed into the door of Luke’s office. His hands held the trays of coffee orders that his sister had told him to pick up on his way back.

He mentally cursed Raphael again for distracting Asmodeus, who had kept his mother calm, because that let his mother’s attention drift to him and he had no choice but to obey when she had ordered him to go home and wash up. She would have told Izzy too, but damn his sister for looking presentable even after staying up all night.

He was in and out of the house in record fifteen minutes' time, constantly wondering if he was missing some update on the whereabouts of Jace and Magnus. His brain was busy dredging up all the worst-case scenarios and throwing them at his face. If it weren’t for the traffic and the line at the coffee shop, he would have been back in twenty minutes instead of the hour that it took him.

He placed the trays on the coffee table. Izzy and Clary jumped on them as soon as the tray touched the table. He took a couple of them from Clary and passed them along to Luke and his mom. Izzy handed two cups to Raphael, who passed one on to Asmodeus.

Alec stared awkwardly at the two detectives he didn’t have any coffee for, he was about to apologize when Detective Sands smiled at him and gave him a nod.

“We were just going over the potential spots that we have been able to track down,” Twyla offered.

Alec nodded and took a sip of his coffee, maybe this much caffeine wasn’t good for normal situations but currently, coffee was having a calming effect on his anxiety, although his body felt jittery.

Alec noticed the two rows of four that Frank was in the middle of taping to the glass wall of Luke’s office. _Huh! Nice use of a wall_.

“Alright so, the next one,” Frank started pointing at the third picture, “is at-“

The detective was interrupted by a sharp ringing of someone’s phone, it sounded more like a siren. Raphael pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket, and brought it to his ear, “Santiago,” he said in lieu of a greeting, his voice emotionless. Raphael looked at Asmodeus, who raised an eyebrow, and gave him a curt nod before he walked past Alec to the door.

Alec looked at Frank, who opened his mouth to continue but stopped, and he turned to look when he heard a familiar voice.

“Oh, sorry!” said Maia, moving out of the way for Raphael, who rushed out after giving her a nod.

Maia, entered the room and looked around, “Did I walk into something I wasn’t supposed to?” she asked, her gaze settling at Luke.

“It’s alright, Maia,” Luke reassured. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Oh, yeah!” she replied, stretching out the syllables. “Um…you could raid a place?”

“What?” Luke asked, his question reflected the bafflement of everyone in the room.

“Yeah, see I think you already know since his father is standing right here, but I think Magnus Bane has been kidnapped,” Alec’s eyebrows shot up at that, only to rise more as she continued, “And, well I haven’t seen Jace all morning, and I tried calling him too, so unless, his family is here because of something else, I think you know that Jace has been kidnapped too.”

“How do you know that?” this time the question came from Izzy.

A lot of different expressions flashed on Maia’s face that it rendered the poker face she settled on useless.

“How do I know, indeed?” Maia said, her eyes glanced at Alec and then at Asmodeus.

“Tell us, young lady,” Asmodeus’ polite voice still carried his impatience.

“I would tell you,” Maia said, “but I need you to not press charges, against anyone,” she finished and raised her eyebrows at the man.

“What did you two do?” Alec snapped. He knew Jace and Maia weren’t too into following the law, but _what had they done this time?_

“I won’t press any charges,” Asmodeus reassured her.

Maia looked at Luke and the two detectives, who shrugged the matter being out of their ambit.

“Alright, so,” Maia started, “Jace put a tracker on his new pal,” Maia looked at Izzy when she gasped, “oh I did ask him about it when I found out, he said he was worried about Magnus’ safety. And yes, I did scream at him that he was being a tad bit too paranoid,” Maia’s voice got somber as she said, “but a couple of days ago, he came up to me and said he felt watched whenever he was with Magnus.”

“What did he do, Maia?” Alec didn’t know if he wanted to be angry or annoyed.

“Well…,” she drawled out, “we have this controversial piece of gadget, okay, that we had been pondering over, but there’s this thirty-minute procedure and you can put a tracker in you, like surgically, and he volunteered to be a test subject.”

“So you know exactly where they are?” Detective Sands asked.

“Yes, well at least Jace, and unless they moved Magnus in the last hour, he is there with him.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Clary piped.

“Can you tell us where?” Luke asked.

“He-,” Maia was interrupted as Raphael rushed back.

“You need to rush your men to Hudson Boulevard, 11th Avenue, Magnus is there,” Raphael barked at Luke.

“That’s…actually it,” Maia added.

“That’s the seventh spot on our list,” Frank said.

“Alright then, ready the teams, Detectives, and call SWAT,” Luke ordered.

Raphael handed Twyla a piece of paper as she was walked past him, “Here, to be exact.”

“I’m going with them,” Alec and Raphael spoke in sync.

If Alec had found it strange that he and Raphael had spoken at the same time, the resounding echo of _what_ that they got was stranger.

“I can’t allow that,” said Luke.

“You’re not going anywhere,” said Maryse, mostly to Alec.

“Not without me!” exclaimed Izzy and Maia.

Raphael was looking at Asmodeus, who spoke after some consideration, “Magnus would be happy to see a familiar face.”

“So would Jace,” Alec reasoned with his mother.

“Alec,” Maryse’s voice was tinged with fear.

“You two are forgetting that I can’t allow two civilians at the site of a raid,” Luke said.

“We won’t be at the raid, we would go in once your people have the place secured,” Raphael said. When it looked like Luke was about to protest, he continued, “you would need me there, we don’t know how much damage control is needed, and do you honestly trust your people with that? Even if you do, I don’t.”

Luke passed a hand over his face, finally some of his frustration slipping through the cracks in his composure. “Fine, Alec is your responsibility then,” he addressed Raphael.

“I can take care of myself,” Alec enunciated, looking up to hide his irritation, “but whatever makes you agree.”

“Come on, Slender Man,” Raphael said and walked out of the room before Alec could protest being called that!

“Alec,” came Izzy’s small voice as Alec turned to follow Raphael. Her voice took him back to when they were little kids and she came to him after having a nightmare. “Bring him back,” she pleaded, tears shining in her eyes.

Alec walked up to his sister and hugged her to him as tightly as he could, and whispered, “It’s going to be okay, Iz.” He released her, his hands still on her shoulder.

“I thought Slender Man followed people!”

Izzy giggled.

* * *

Alec followed Raphael into the building. It looked like an ordinary apartment building from outside, but as they were guided to the basement, Alec noticed a lot of rooms, that had been kicked open, looked more like holding cells.

_Were those chains he noticed?_

The SWAT officer guiding him and Raphael stopped in front of a door and nodded at them to go in.

Raphael walked in ahead of him and before Alec could even enter, he was walking out typing furiously at his phone.

As Alec entered the room, he noticed the faint smell of blood in the stifling chamber. Alec paused, his jaw dropped open as he noticed Magnus, strapped to a chair, bleeding from multiple wounds.

“Alexander,” Magnus’ drained voice unpaused him and he started to move towards him when he said, “Jace, help him.”

Alec frowned, not understanding what was being asked of him. Magnus pointed to the other side of the room, “Help him!”

Alec turned his head and saw the crumpled form of his brother gasping on the floor. It broke him out of the otherworldliness of the situation that he was trapped in since he had stepped inside the building. He rushed to kneel in front of his brother, whom he noticed was too far gone into a panic attack.

This wasn’t the first time he had seen his brother having a panic attack. He knew he had Jace’s express permission to touch him if he ever had one, so Alec wasted no time and held Jace’s face as he guided him to look at him.

“A-Al-Alec,” Jace said, in between his shallow breaths.

“I’m here, Jace, come on breathe,” Alec requested.

“Ma-Mag-“

“Magnus is okay,” Alec told him in a firm voice, “You saved him.” As he went to bring his brother’s palm to his chest, he noticed the chains around him and the raw chaffing around his wrists. Jace’s hands were cold to the touch, and Alec realized with sudden terror that he probably didn’t have any feeling in them.

Alec rested his forehead on Jace’s, “Come on, breathe with me,” he took a deep inhale, and exhaled it slowly as he begged, “ _Breathe!_ ”


	18. Chapter 18

Maryse was exhausted. The sun wasn’t even close to setting, but she felt more taxed than on a thrilling courtroom day. She turned the corner of the hospital corridor and came to the private waiting area. Alec was slumped in the corner of the sofa. She quietly sat down next to her son. Alec wasn’t very subtle in his silent sniffling, and maybe he was, but she is his mother, it wasn’t hard for her to notice.

Alec shuffled in his seat, as he noticed her, and tried to stealthily wipe his tears before saying, “Hi mom, any news?”

“Jace is mostly okay, other than one dislocated shoulder and the rashes from the chains. Magnus suffered the most burnt. He is in surgery.”

Alec paled, “I don’t think Magnus and Jace are a couple.”

“Hmm?” she asked, confused.

“Asmodeus and Raphael were pretty adamant about it.”

“But why would-,” Maryse paused, realizing the deflection for what it was, and said, “I guess we will wait for Jace to wake up to ask him that.”

Alec nodded. Maryse cupped her son’s cheek and turned his face to her. She could see the self-depreciation in his eyes.

“Alec, you know this wasn’t your fault, right?”

Alec’s eyes widen, he looked so much like a little kid caught with a hand in a cookie jar. Except, her son was caught with his hand above a bear trap.

“I- I should-,” Alec tries as a tear rolls down his cheek.

She noticed the faint shadow of his neck tattoo that had started to peek from behind the makeup. Maryse had been pissed when her kids, minus Max, who was a toddler at the time, had returned home with tattoos after a drunken night. But she wishes Alec didn’t keep it hidden all the time.

She wipes the offending tear with her thumb and cups Alec’s face in both her hands, _her big baby_. It seems just like yesterday when she found a ten years old Alec, crying in his bed because he had failed a test and feared she won’t love him anymore. She had reassured him then, like she needs to reassure the Alec in front of her.

“No, my baby, it wasn’t your fault,” She told him in a soft voice, but when he seemed ready to object, she continued in a firmer voice, “Some woman took them because she wanted revenge on someone else, you couldn’t have done anything about it. They are safe now, and we caught the woman.”

Alec nodded; he believed her words as much as he believed in Trump’s presidency.

“You remember, how you thought Jace joined the army because he hates you.”

Alec looked to the ground, his shame was easy for her to read.

“You remember, Jace coming back the first time and how he didn’t leave your side, because he missed you the most?”

Alec gives her a slight nod, still not looking up.

“You remember how he has stayed with you for the last few years because those four years without you were _the most he can do in this lifetime?”_

Alec giggled, as another fat tear rolled down her precious child’s face.

“Well then, this is like that time, Jace’s safety is not your responsibility, Magnus’ safety is _definitely_ not your responsibility, and no one is going to blame you for what happened, alright?”

Alec’s lips quirked up in a smile, and he finally looked up to meet her eyes.

“You believe me?” she asked.

Alec nodded, his voice as soft as his ten years old self when he said, “I do, mama.”

Maryse pulled her baby boy into a hug, hoping she can protect him from himself.

* * *

Alec had been standing next to Jace’s bed when he woke up from his induced coma, which was probably a good thing because he rushed to sit up as soon as his eyes fluttered open.

“Easy there, you dislocated your shoulder, it needs rest.”

“Alec?”

“It’s me,” he offered and brought a paper cup to his brother’s lip, who sipped on the water.

“I’m dead!” Jace said as he relaxed back into the hospital bed.

“No, you’re dramatic.” He turned to put the cup away.

Alec looked back and saw his brother tearing up before he could say anything, Jace’s face contorted with fear and he gasped, “ _Magnus!_ ”

Alec pushes him down again gently by the shoulder, “I told you to relax,” he paused, “Magnus is okay, he is out of surgery and he will make full recovery. Asmodeus is with him, waiting for him to wake up.”

Jace sighed.

“I’ll go get the doctor.”

* * *

Maryse was standing next to Jace’s bed, her hand caressing his head. Izzy was sitting on the other side of the bed. Alec was standing next to her, with his arms folded on his chest. He was giving Jace a pensive look.

“What?” Jace finally snapped at Alec.

Alec looked taken aback and quirked an eyebrow.

“You’re looking at me like you want to ask me something, so go on, ask!”

Alec looks at mom, who scoffed, then at Izzy, who nodded slightly at him.

“Why did you say you were dating Magnus?”

“WHAT!” Jace looked at Maryse, who averted his gaze and then at Izzy, whose eyes held the same question. “When did I ever say I was dating Magnus?”

“At that family lunch, about three weeks ago.”

“What?” Jace asked, squinting hard as he tried to remember.

“You said something about meeting him in- in a bar, and taking him home- and- and you said he didn’t leave your bed- and snored!” Alec said, gesticulating with his hands, a nervous tick.

“So you assumed I was dating him?”

Alec looked at him like he was trying to come up with an argument.

He didn’t need to, because Izzy piped up with, “You were gushing about how cute he was-,”

“Still is,” Jace interrupted, glancing at Maryse, who nodded, answering his silent question about Magnus’ wellbeing.

“How cute he is,” Izzy corrected, “you said you took him home, and we know you two slept together thanks to your Instagram,” she accused.

“No! No! No! No! _NO_!” Jace gasped in horror. He looked around at the faces of his family, and heard a chuckle from the corner, _oh fuck!_ He had forgotten Raphael was here too. “I did take him home, but not to sleep with him!” he implored, “He was too drunk. I took him home to take care of him.”

Alec and Izzy looked at him suspiciously, _damn these lawyers!_

“And we did literally sleep together, but not ' _sleep'_ sleep,” he would use air quotes but again, his hands were, at the moment, tied up.

“But at Pandemonium, you said you two barely spent any time _talking_?” Izzy countered.

“Yeah, because when he finally woke up after sleeping in my bed all day, that first time, we spent that night binge-watching a show, which then turned to something we did most nights, stuff our faces with popcorn and watch anything remotely entertaining we could find.”

Alec and Izzy had identical frowns on their faces.

“But you’re so tactile with him? You’re never that comfortable with anyone?” this time it was Alec with the questions.

Jace averted their gaze, looking at his mom to protect him, only to find her curious gaze staring back at him, and he finally mumbled, “we cuddled.”

“What?” echoed Izzy, Alec, and Raphael, who, he realized, was still present in the room.

“Stuff our faces with popcorn, watching anything remotely entertaining and,” Jace repeated and then softly continued, “sometimes cuddled.”

They stared at him like he had sprouted another head, and then simultaneously, Izzy cooed at the adorableness, Alec smirked and Raphael, _the fucker,_ cackled.

Jace frowned and looked at his mom, who was also grinning.

“Alright, alright,” she started, “this is not a deposition, leave him be,” she said, sending Alec and Izzy a mild glare.

“No, but we’ll talk about that later,” Izzy chirped.

Maryse continued in a strict voice, “and Raphael, control boy.”

“Sorry, Maryse,” Raphael apologized, still not successfully containing his chuckling.

“But wait,” Alec said after a couple of minutes, “so you’re straight?”

Jace should have seen this one coming, “Not exactly,” he replied, “I’ve had a few hook-ups here and there, never really dated anyone.”

Alec nodded, and that was that of his coming out conversation.

It was a short while later, and Jace was idly looking at his cast when a thought sprang up in his head.

“ _Wait a fucking minute!”_

The conversation around him stopped.

“You!” Jace accusatorily pointed, as well as he could with his hands in shoulder supports, at Alec, who frowned, “You thought I was dating Magnus! But I saw _you_. You were crushing on him!”

A flush was rising high on Alec’s cheeks.

“He made a move on you, didn’t he? But to you he was my _boyfriend_ ,” he would have made air quotes if he could, “so you told him to stay the fuck away, didn’t you?”

Alec was red, avoiding all their eyes.

“That’s what happened that night, didn’t it? That’s why Magnus won’t go near you?” Jace said, reveling in having solved the mystery.

“I did what I thought was the right thing, I didn’t know you two weren’t dating,” Alec defended himself.

Jace sighed back onto the backrest, “I thought you were in denial. Thank fuck I won’t have to drag you out of that river.”

Jace met Raphael’s eyes and they smirked at each other, _Magnus is going to be fucking pleased._

“So...if I was to ask him out,” Alec asked tentatively, “you won’t have a problem?”

“ _Dude!_ I’ve been waiting for you to ask him out,” Jace grinned at Alec.

Alec gave a shy smile and nodded.

“Also, don’t feel shy, the guy has been crushing on you since he saw you, so he would say yes,” Jace reassured his brother.

“ _HEY!_ ” Raphael chided, “Don’t give away Magnus like that!”

“I’m not leaving it to chance this time, Grouch.”

* * *

Asmodeus was standing next to his son’s hospital bed, where he was laid all bandaged up, breathing with the help of an oxygen mask. He caressed the soft product-less hair atop his son’s head. He wanted to put makeup around his son’s eyes, if only it would make him seem less fragile.

He heard the door open and shut behind him. He did not bother to look up to see who it was, he was too afraid to take his eyes off his son.

“He is okay, Papa. You know he is a fighter,” said Raphael, coming to stand next to him.

“I worry.”

“Well, at least he wasn’t alone. That blond boy has been good.”

“What do you think of his brother?”

“Alec? He seems okay. And apparently he thought Magnus was Jace’s boyfriend, so imagine his disdain when Magnus flirted with him,” Raphael scoffed and shook his head.

Asmodaddy chuckled, “I know, he was looking at them with such longing at the night of the gala.”

“You didn’t tell him?”

“He ran off before I could,” Asmodeus replied.

“Poor guy,” Raphael said, though his voice held more amusement than pity, “so, you ready to leave for the night?”

“Don’t even try,” Asmodeus warned, he wasn’t leaving till his boy wakes up.

“You know I can do a lot of things, but arranging a bed for you to lie down in, in this hospital, isn’t one of them.”

“It’s okay, you worry too much about me,” Asmodeus remarked, not for the first time. Raphael was, after all, his protégé, ever since he had joined his company as an intern and treated Magnus as a colleague rather than his boss’s son.

“Fine,” Raphael conceded, “I’ll see if I can sneak past an inflatable bed at least.”

Raphael was clicking away on his phone, probably talking to one of his many contacts.

Asmodeus doesn’t know what prompted him, but he shared, “Jace apparently harbored a crush on me once.”

He is met with silence. The sound of tapping had paused. Asmodeus smiled when the silence was followed by resounding laughter.

* * *

It was the day after Jace and Magnus had been rescued. Clary had been wondering about them, especially Magnus since she didn’t know how his surgery had gone. She wanted to ask Luke, but he had already left by the time she had woken up that morning.

She was on her way to an appointment when she noticed a beautiful flower arrangement on display outside a flower shop. It was glittering in the sunlight and she just had to get it for Magnus. She messaged her client and they agreed to reschedule when they heard of an emergency.

She arrived at the hospital with two bouquets in her hands. Though the bouquet hadn’t lost any of its shine, it had shed on the other one. A beautiful white petunia arrangement, decorated with golden threads, which was now glittering a faint rainbow. The front of her clothes hadn’t been spared either, her black t-shirt and the denim jacket on top, both were now sparkling.

Clary smiled at Raphael, who nodded back, when she saw him talking to the doctor at the nurse’s station on Magnus’ floor.

She knocked before she opened the door a little and peered in. Asmodeus was standing next to Magnus’ bed, holding his son’s hand in his, and Magnus was smiling though he still looked drained.

“Hi,” she chirped.

Magnus smiled at her, he seemed genuinely pleased to see her, although she doubted he ever had an unkind look on his face. Asmodeus waved her in.

“I brought these for you,” she said as she used her body to throw the door open.

Magnus’ smile widened at the sight of the flowers and Clary patted herself for making the decision to purchase them.

“They are lovely, biscuit,” he said.

His bed was folded up to a reclining position, so he drew the flowers to his face when she handed him the bouquet.

“Finally a smell other than disinfectants,” Magnus sighed and took a deep inhale, his face scrunching when his shoulders moved.

“I will take care of that,” Asmodeus said, taking the flowers away from Magnus and placing them on the side table. “Thank you for these, dear.”

“Oh, it was no issue,” Clary said, “They reminded me of Magnus when I saw them.”

Magnus grinned, “I’m glad you remember my sparkling personality, biscuit.”

“You leave a lasting impression,” she replied, mirroring his smile. She was pleased to see him doing well.

“I’m told I should thank you,” Magnus said.

“Yeah, me and a bunch of other people who probably did more than I did,” Clary said.

“Your instincts helped rally a quick response, dear, you have my gratitude,” she hadn’t expected such humble words from _Black Ninja._

“Well, your son doesn’t seem the snobbish kind to litter the sidewalk and throw away gifts,” that was how she could best deal with the gratefulness in their eyes, throwing a compliment back at them.

“I see this isn’t your only destination,” Magnus teased, his eyes lingering on the bouquet still in her hands.

She blushed. “Um…yeah, well,” she tried, looking down at the bouquet in her hands, “you weren’t the only one-,” she paused when she heard giggling.

“It’s okay, biscuit,” Magnus said, still giggling. Asmodeus was smiling at her too. “I’m sure he will appreciate them.”

She stayed for a while with them, and then with a kiss on Magnus’ cheek, she left. She had one more stop.

A little inquiry at the reception desk told her that Jace was on the floor below. Clary heard laughter before she even opened the door of the room.

Alec, like Asmodeus, was sat beside the bed, and Jace was lying on the bed, much like Magnus, but he seemed livelier. His hands were wrapped up in bandages.

“Hello,” she greeted. She felt a little nervous showing up here like this, with a bouquet in hand.

“Hey, Red!”Jace exclaimed, “thank you for calling Luke, I mean we still got tortured, but at least you guys got to us before the shit show got too grotesque!”

Confounded did not cover how she felt. Jace had talked with such a peppy voice, that if you weren’t paying attention, you would think he was talking about game scores.

“Don’t mind him, he is a little drugged,” Alec said, calmly, but he seemed amused.

“Here,” she extended the flowers towards Jace, who looked pretty enchanted with them.

“Oh my god, they’re gorgeous,” he said, his eyes following the flowers as Alec took them from her and put them in a small vase, next to another bouquet set on the side table.

“Are they aromatic?” Jace asked.

“Wait till the evening,” Alec replied, smirking at his brother who had a lopsided grin on his face.

Jace looked back at Clary, suddenly fixating her with the same look he had for the flowers, “you’re gorgeous too, Red, did I tell you that?”

Clary felt her entire face warm up at that, she knew she was blushing harder than she had at Magnus’.

“Um…thank you,” she replied, but fate wasn’t on her side, as she didn’t stop there but uttered, “you too.”

Jace brightened up with a smile that could give a tough competition to Magnus’ glittering bouquet.

“Stay here,” she looked at Alec and saw that he was addressing her, “I’ll be outside,” he gestured vaguely, “somewhere that isn’t here.”

She tried to object but Alec was already out of the door.

Clary looked back at Jace, whose bright grin was still intact, and he nodded towards the chair next to the bed, “Sit.”

_Well, fuck it! Who can say no to that face?_

* * *

Alec knew he was staring, but well there wasn’t anyone to tell him off, was there?

It was evening, the visiting hours would soon be over, he was hoping he would get to talk to him today, but at the same time, he was hoping they could avoid this till tomorrow.

If he had thought Magnus with all that makeup was beautiful, well he is still beautiful with his face devoid of any makeup. Though the stitches don’t dull his beauty, he wishes Magnus didn’t have to go through what put them there.

Jace was dozing off on the floor below them. He had been elated when Clary had shown up to see him. Alec hates to admit but seeing the small redhead blushing and complimenting his brother made him think he could show his face at Magnus’ room.

Thankfully, Asmodeus had been too busy on the call to see Alec walk past him in the corridor outside. He doesn’t think he would have been allowed in otherwise.

Magnus’ eyes fluttered open, and Alec was too stumped to rush out before that twinkling gaze fixed him to his seat.

“Alexander,” Magnus breathed out.

“Hi,” he greeted.

“I-I- Where’s papa?” Magnus’s voice was suddenly too small, and Alec felt his stomach sink.

“He’s out on a call, I can go get him,” he offered.

“No, it’s okay, I just…can you get me some water?” Magnus asked.

Alec poured some water in a paper cup and raised Magnus’ bed before bringing the cup to his lips.

Magnus took a couple of gulps before he thanked Alec.

“I-,” Magnus started, “honestly, I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Alec felt like he had been smacked with a water balloon full of guilt, “I thought you were dating Jace.”

“What?” Magnus frowned.

“Jace,” Alec repeated, “When you…when you- I don’t know if you were flirting with me or propositioning me or just concerned about my singlehood- I thought it was my brother’s boyfriend asking me out.”

Magnus’ eyes widened as his frown deepened.

“And when I told you to stay away from me I was telling my brother’s boyfriend that I wasn’t going to help him cheat on my brother nevermind how attracted I was to him.”

Magnus stared back at him, his face blank, even the frown had left his face. Alec patiently waited for him to react, _okay, impatiently._

“Say something!” Alec exclaimed impatiently.

Magnus’ poker face melted into a relaxed smile. _Did he tell you the guy was beautiful?_

“I’m adventurous, but not _that_ adventurous, Alexander,” Magnus finally said, giggling.

“I’m sorry I assumed such awful things about you,” Alec apologized, he could no longer hold his gaze, and he lowered his eyes.

“Don’t deprive me of those precious eyes, Alexander, I’m hurt, I need pretty things to look at.”

Alec’s eyes snapped up, he could feel a flush rising at being called _pretty_. He was finally able to return Magnus’s precious smile.

“You’re forgiven, Alexander, I see that you’re a man of high honor, I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.”

Alec can see why this dramatic ass got along with his brother’s dramatic ass.

“I would like us to be more than acquaintances, though,” Alec decided to go all in, remembering his brother’s words.

An adorable blush darkened Magnus’ cheeks.

“I would,” Magnus said, his voice softer than it had been, “I would like that too.”

“Can I do something I’ve wanted to do since I first saw you?” Alec asked, emboldened, he put his hands on either side of Magnus as he loomed close to him, staring into those glinting eyes.

Magnus held his gaze for a minute, his breath quickening, before he whispered, “ _Oh, kiss me already!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooooo, they are finally together! Or are they?
> 
> Well I guess we'll have to wait till the next part to find out.
> 
> 'Next part?' you ask.
> 
> YUP! There may be dates, double or even triple dates. Some familiy shenanigans as they form one big family.

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to [ @nightwing-batboi ](https://nightwing-batboi.tumblr.com/) on tumblr for being super supportive and letting me outsource random decisions and for coming up with the title of the fic.
> 
> Fucking figured out how to make those clickable!! Thanks to [ @magnus-the-maqnificent ](https://magnus-the-maqnificent.tumblr.com/)
> 
> To anyone who has a problem with Jace and Magnus, remember they're not straight (at least for this story), they don't have to no-homo their friendship. They're not scared of catching 'the gay'. Go watch some Queer Eye!
> 
> Aristotle: 'Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet'.
> 
> Your comments and kudos are very welcome and much appreciated! ❤️
> 
> Also, come say hi to me on tumblr, I have the same username ([ @igonecrazy ](https://igonecrazy.tumblr.com/)) there too! ❤️


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